sadbrewer

Hello,my friend is hoping to visit Hungary soon,can anyone tell me what an average corner shop/supermarket price in Budapest would be for a decent quality palinka?
and any brand recommendations would also be appreciated.
cheers

fidobsa

I don't suppose you would get decent quality in a corner shop in most places in Hungary but Palinka usually comes in half litre bottles and the price range is roughly £4 to £15.

Rural Hungary

Does he have a death wish

Shotgun

No, he just needs the paint off his doors.

Rural Hungary

Soproni

Palinka. God's armpit juice, but strangely more-ish.

Rural Hungary

You have a real knack of putting the strangest imagery in my mind! Smelly sources and now beads of sweat dripping from a hairy armpit - never again shall I be able to drink the slightly palatable honey palinka.

judybaby

You're all made of stronger stuff than me!

I can't even stand the smell of the Palinka as you get it near your nose, so when it actually hits my mouth I'm already reeling away from it!

Soproni

I love Palinka, especially my wife's dads home produced ones. Reminds of of Tequilla and Romanian Sveeka [sic]. Yum!

sadbrewer

Hi again,I'm really surprised by the general concensus of opinion,I know everything comes down to taste,but all i can think is that perhaps you've never had the good stuff,a bit like a standard pub whisky in the UK is frankly awful,but a good single malt is heavenly....I have an empty bottle in front of me called Bekesi Szilvapalinka....unfortunately I finished the contents some time ago!!!.....but it was superb,another one I tried was a pear palinka,with a Williams pear grown in the bottle,if any of you are spirit drinkers,please don't be frightened to give the good stuff a go....you're really missing out.
The reason I asked the price question was,I have an internet pal(Gabor) from Zalaegerszeg(lives and works in Budapest now).My wife and I recently sent some baby clothes for their newborn,I am going to ask him to send me some Palinka over,but he and his wife will try and do it at their expense,and I don't want that...so I thought if I could send roughly the right amount of money first, to cover a couple of bottles, plus postage and leave a drink in it for Gabor and his wife,it would allow them to do it without feeling honour bound to return a favour(which was our pleasure)
thanks
Andy

Rural Hungary

Hi Andy, don't think it's that we haven't had "the good stuff" more it is down to taste. It isn't for everyone whether it's homemade, supermarket bought or the most expensive in a decent restaurant. We have tried all the aforementioned and, as mentioned before, the only one I found palatable was a honey palinka which I have not found available locally - it was in an unusual shaped, bubble effect bottle - I will continue looking

Soproni: you're a braver man than I am woman, home made palinka!!!!

Soproni

Careful sending items subject to Customs and Excise by post. I had some fags posted to me recently and HMC&E nabbed them (even though they were tax paid in Hungary). Your Palinka might go the same way.

Soproni

I have a similar feeling with people who eat curries. I can't do spicy and or hot stuff, burns on the way in and burns even more on the way out! Not for me, pass me the Palinka!!

PaulinEger

Maybe your best bet is to send say 10,000 huf and ask him to get hold of a couple of litres of hazi palinka. From the situation you describe your friends won't skimp on the price/quality but obtain some decent home made palinka which will probably be nicer and better quality than the shop bought stuff. A good hazi palinka is very smooth and easy to drink without burning your throat but also has a high alcohol content.
The downside is that yes, it "may" get picked up by customs but that goes for whether it's shop-bought or hazi.
We've just had some szilva palinka made from 100kg of plums that we picked and it's REALLY easy to drink. My wife usually needs a glass of water with hers but this stuff she can drink neat.
Ask your friend for some hazi palinka and enjoy a taste of the real Hungary.

Rural Hungary

We have a friendly restaurateur who, on occasion, plies us with his hazi palinka from his "under the counter" bottle. Believe me, there is nothing smooth about it. As with everything, different makers have different ways, skills and talent - you were obviously fortunate to find somebody who knows what they are doing