Unicum () is a Hungarian herbal

liqueur A liqueur (; ; ) is an alcoholic drink composed of spirits (often rectified spirit) and additional flavorings such as sugar, fruits, herbs, and spices. Often served with or after dessert, they are typically heavily sweetened and un-aged beyond ...

bitters Bitters (plural also ''bitters'') is traditionally an alcoholic preparation flavored with botanical matter for a bitter or bittersweet flavor. Originally, numerous longstanding brands of bitters were developed as patent medicines, but now are ...

, drunk as a digestif and apéritif.Zwack website
/ref> The liqueur was created in 1790 and is today produced by

Zwack Zwack is a Budapest, Hungary based company that makes liqueurs and spirits. The company produces an 80 proof (40% alcohol) herbal liqueur known as Unicum from a secret blend of more than forty different herbs and spices. Unicum is known as one ...

according to a secret formula of more than forty herbs; the drink is aged in oak casks. During

communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

in Hungary, the Zwack family lived in exile in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, and Unicum in Hungary was produced using a different formula. Before moving to the United States, János Zwack had entrusted a family friend in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

with the production of Unicum based on the original recipe.Unicum website
After the fall of communism, Péter Zwack returned to Hungary and resumed production of the original Unicum. The texture of the drink is "thick, black, goopy" and so bitter that it is often described as an

acquired taste An acquired taste is an appreciation for something unlikely to be enjoyed by a person who has not had substantial exposure to it. It is the opposite of innate taste, which is the appreciation for things that are enjoyable by most persons without ...

. The drink's name originates from the words of

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans ( la, Imperator Romanorum, german: Kaiser der Römer) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period ( la, Imperat ...

Joseph II Joseph II (German: Josef Benedikt Anton Michael Adam; English: ''Joseph Benedict Anthony Michael Adam''; 13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg lands from November 29, 1780 unt ...

, who in 1790, when being given the drink, said (in German) "Das ist ein Unikum!" ("This is unique!"). Unicum is regarded as one of the national drinks of Hungary. The production facility offers tours which include a tasting session of the multiple different varieties including Unicum and Unicum Plum. According to the manufacturer, the original Unicum is no longer distributed in the United States, having been replaced by Unicum Next (a sweeter, thinner-bodied drink with a more prominent citrus flavour), re-branded as "

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External links

* Hungarian alcoholic drinks Hungarian liqueurs Bitters Herbal liqueurs Hungarian brands {{distilled-drink-stub

See also

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External links