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Drinking Etiquette in Eastern Europe
August 9, 2012 in Budapest, Drinking, Romania, Slovakia
Help me, Narcissistic Vagabond! I just booked a trip to X country. If I
dont learn some tips for drinking etiquette in Eastern Europe, Ill be
very sad.
The French love wine, the Germans beer; Russians down vodka like water and the Spanish sip sangria
while sashaying the salsa (presumably.) But what about Eastern Europeans? Theyre not all quasi-
Russians with a penchant for clear flavorless alcohols, as some may be surprised to learn.
Every European country and more likely, region, has their own alcohol and rules and traditions for
drinking it. While Im still sadly unexperienced in countries further south than Serbia and further
north/east than Poland, heres some drinking etiquette in Eastern Europe advice and tips at the end,
youll be able to fit in like a local, or at least fall over like one. (Not. Youll never be a local. Just get
really drunk and compliment their beautiful countryside, alcohol, and/or women. Compliments to their
government, cities, food, culture, history, and public transportation system can and will backfire.)
And when a drunk Slovak offers you the use of his one-hundred degree centigrade sauna, kindly but
firmly reject that and continued offers of party there, good fun yes very hot you like you see. Trust me.

So lets start with Slovakia.
Slovakia is a bitty little country kind of around the bottom of Poland and squished in next to the Czech
Republic. And as you hopefully know, the Czech and Slovakia were until fairly recently as these things
go, one country called Czechslovakia. When they split, Slovakia definitely got the short end of the stick.
The Czech got Prague and the ability to make puns like Czech this out, and Slovakia gotBratislava,
the worlds shittiest capital. Well, they also got some of the High Tatras mountains, but theyre mostly
just full of German tourists and goats.
Anyways, as the heart of beer-making country, Slovakia has some pretty stellar beers to look out for.
Even their entry-level mass-produced beers are far superior to the beers of surrounding countries.
Smedny Mnich, Zlaty Bazaant, and Kozel are a few common beers that get widely exported and drunk
all around Europe. They measure beer not in alcohol percentage but in some other percentage which I
am too lazy to Google for the technical term but basically refers to the color of the beer. Light, weak
lagers are generally 10%. Mid-range ambers are 12-14%, and beers with an even higher percentage tend
to be dark beers. I think. My beer memory is fuzzy.
DONT ever, unless you hate yourself, drink Slovakian wine. Its around, but avoid it, and everyone will
be happier.
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DO start off your day with a shot and a beer, in following the local village traditions. And experiment
with Slovakian alcohols. Dont waste your brain cells and taste buds by buying bottles of alcohol that
retail for less than 4 euro, because you will regret it. 6-7 euro bottles are generally very drinkable, and
splashing out on a 10+ euro bottle of alcohol will make you a very happy person. My personal favorite is
Hruskovica, which is a pear alcohol. It tastes like pears. Sometimes refreshingly so, and sometimes in a
slightly more gasoline-infused way. My friend is passionate about borovicka, which is a juniper-based
alcohol that in my opinion tastes like pine trees and mystery herbs. Some people love it. Its dry and can
be delicious, and makes people crazy. Its a classic Slovakian shot, and you too will fall in love after the
seventh one.

Next up for reviewHungary! My adopted home for a year
and a half.
Soproni is a decent brand, if you want to drink Hungarian
beer
Hungary is a big wine country. If youve ever heard of the sweet golden elixir of life known as Tokaji
(Tokay) wine, then you should know it comes from the wine-growing region ofyou guessed it! Tokaj,
in Hungary. Eger is another good wine region, this one for delectable heavy reds, the most famous
known as Egri Bikaver, or Bulls Blood.
*Keep in mind Im making this up as I go. I once tasted some pretty good reds in Eger in the Valley of
the Nice Women, and I know Bikaver comes from there, so I have come to the conclusion that all good
reds come from Eger. Note also the creative adjectives.
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Enjoying wine in a cellar in Eger, Hungary.
Hungarians also drink copious amounts of beer, but that seems to be more because they just drink
copious amounts of everything than because Hungarian beer is actually any good. Hungarian beer is
lackluster at best. I do enjoy a pint of Soproni Demon, a brand of dark beer that surprisingly light and
refreshing with bitter chocolate notes and that sweet, sweet tang of it doesnt cost very much, but as
Slovakian imports (Kozel and Zlaty Bazaant) are so common and comparable in cost with Hungarian
beers, I tend to stick with those.
EXCEPTION: Arany Aszok, a brand of beer that must stand for Golden Ass as judged by the taste,
regularly runs a special in bars that carry it. On Fridays in the summer you can get a pint of Arany
Aszok on tap for less than buying a can in the store, for what is the equivalent of less than a dollar. And
then you drink all the beer, all of the night. Look out for signs that say Arany Aszok Pentek.
DO try good palinka. Palinka is the Hungarian fruit liquor, and its strong, sassy and comes in at least
five thousand variations (I might be exaggerating, but possibly not.) You can buy any fruit flavour, fruit
combination, fruit + honey combo, and Ive seen it made also flavoured with chilis, paprika, garlic, etc.
A good palinka bar will serve shots lightly chilled in a small glass reminiscent of a wine glass for
children. Dont shoot it. Sip it, enjoy it. Palinka aficionados are about as fanatical as whisky snobs, so if
you cant enjoy good palinka then go to a ruin bar and get a shot of the cheap shit (and it is shit, its
utterly horrible) and shoot it as quickly as you can and pray it doesnt touch your tongue.
DONT let someone talk you into trying Unicum with the promise that its like the Hungarian
Jagermeister. Its awful. It tastes like Jager, if you mixed Jager with death and then infused it with the
dying screams of tormented souls. Its mostly really bitter and herbal-y. I briefly acquired a taste for it
before realizing I was everything that was wrong with myself.

Now we come to Romania.
Bio Latest Posts
Tags: alcohol, backpacking, beer, customs, drinking culture, Hungary, palinka, Romania, slovakia,
travel, wine
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I love Romania. I think Romania is the bees knees and Id marry her if I could, regardless of corrupt
politics, poor infrastructure, a massively povery-stricken populace, few opportunities for young people,
etc. The people are the best people and the alcohol iswell, its alcohol. You drink a lot of it when in
Romania. In fact, my liver never hates me so much as when I take it to Romania.
Romanians drink beer, wine, and alcohols with equal vigor. Some very decent sweet red wines come
from certain regions, and a few even get exported out of the country. I remember having a very good red
dessert wine in Michigan, of all places.
But the rural working populace sticks to the good stuff: called tuica in the Romanian parts, in the
Hungarian regions (most of Transylvania used to be Hungary, go read a fucking history book if you
dont know what Im talking about) its palinka. Again. If you travel in this part of the world, you had
better learn to like palinka.
Each village has their own palinkeria, where the villagers bring their fruit to be made into hundreds of
liters of palinka/tuica, which will hopefully last the family through until the next harvest. They store it
in glass jugs, plastic bottles, gasoline canistersand they drink it. On a massive scale.

DONT refuse a shot of palinka from someone offering you, especially in their home, as its probably
their own homemade stock. And as soon as you finish your glass, it will immediately be refilled. So, if
you dont think you can handle multiple shots of palinka at eight in the morning, my advice is to sip.
Slowly. Finish the last centimeter just as youre standing up to leave, and quickly run away as they
come at you with a refill.
DO get drunk with Romanians. I think Romania gets a bad reputation in the Western world for being
poor, full of scams and Gypsies, and even for being somewhat unsafe. While I cant vouch for every part
of the country, the areas Ive been to have been not only safe, but the people have welcomed with and
been incredibly friendly and generous. The laws of hospitality are alive and strong. While you should
always be aware of yourself and your surroundings when traveling, remain open to the idea Romanians
are just really, really awesome.

Nicole Lee
Writer at Narcissistic Vagabond
Nicole is a traveler, writer, and all-around language fanatic. She likes swearing in
foreign languages and getting drunk with the locals. She writes words and teaches
other people about words for a living. She started this site in 2011.
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