Unicum Recipe
Hungary's jet-black herbal bitters, drunk ice-cold and neat: intensely bitter, resinous and warming.
- Category: Popular
- Glass: Old fashioned glass
- ABV: 40%
- Difficulty: Easy
- Prep time: ~3 min
Ingredients
- Unicum (Hungarian herbal liqueur)40 ml (1.4 oz)
How to Make It
- Keep the bottle in the freezer or the coldest part of the fridge until it is thoroughly chilled.
- Chill a small tumbler or tulip glass as well.
- Pour the Unicum neat, without ice, filling no more than a third of the glass.
- Drink it in one or two sips, as an aperitif or a digestif.
Garnish
None; it is served neat and ice-cold.
What it tastes like
It has a bitter backbone, it has a green, botanical backdrop and it hits hard.
The technique
Built in the glass. Ice goes into the serving glass, the ingredients go on top, and you stir once if at all. Anything carbonated goes in LAST and never gets stirred; every turn of the spoon costs you bubbles. Fill the glass to the rim with ice: less ice melts faster, not slower.
Glass and ice
A heavy-bottomed, wide old fashioned glass. Wide enough for one large cube, which is the point: a big cube has less surface area, so the drink gets cold without getting watery.
Ingredient notes and substitutes
- Unicum (Hungarian herbal liqueur)
- A Hungarian bitter liqueur of some forty herbs, around 40%, drunk neat and not sweet. Fernet is the closest stand-in, bitter and menthol-edged in the same way.
The Story
Unicum is Hungary's national herbal liqueur, made by the Zwack family since the late 18th century from a secret blend of dozens of herbs and aged in oak casks. Hungarians take it ice-cold, before or after a meal.
Frequently asked questions
- How is a Unicum mixed?
- It is built in the glass and served in an old fashioned glass.
- How strong is a Unicum?
- Roughly 40% ABV as served — a spirit-strength drink — sipped slowly, and it wants a glass of water beside it.
- Can a Unicum be made without alcohol?
- Simply leaving the spirit out does not work — the body and the bitterness go with it. The 86 alcohol-free recipes in the catalogue are built to hit that balance from the start.
- Is a Unicum hard to make?
- Easy. No bar kit required — a measure, ice and a jar will do.
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Alcoholic drink recipes are intended for those aged 18 and over. Please drink responsibly.