🥃 Békés plum pálinka (Békési Szilvapálinka)

Békés plum pálinka (Békési Szilvapálinka) is a Hungarian EU geographical indication for plum pálinka from the town of Békés and 16 neighbouring municipalities in the Körös river valley. At least half of the plums in the mash must be the local red plum Vörös szilva, and mashing, distillation, ageing and bottling all take place only in this area.

The name has been protected in the EU since 23 September 2003 (eAmbrosia register, PGI-HU-02053); Hungary submitted the technical file to the European Commission in 2017. The area includes Békéscsaba, Gyula, Mezőberény, Sarkad and other settlements of Békés county. According to the file, the dense chernozem soils and the Körös river system give the plums a distinctive balance of sugar and acid, while the same rootstock gives a different taste elsewhere in Hungary.

Fruit is accepted with documents proving its origin, free of rot and impurities. The stones are removed, the mash ferments for 10–14 days at 18–22 °C, and then comes double fractional distillation in a still with a copper surface or in other equipment of the same quality. The distillate is aged for at least three months in wooden casks of up to 1000 l, which is why the pálinka is pale yellow.

Strength is 40–86 % vol.; methanol at most 1200 g/hl and hydrocyanic acid up to 7 g/hl of pure alcohol. Flavourings, colourings and sweeteners are prohibited. It is bottled only in glass or ceramic of up to 1 l, and the pálinka may not be taken out of the area in bulk. Plums have been grown here since the early 1870s; in 1955 the red plum made up 98 % of the mash at the Békéscsaba distilleries.

Why this matters to you. The name «Békési» guarantees local red plums, wood ageing and bottling in the region of origin; an ordinary szilvapálinka has no such conditions. Look for the full name on the label. The WHO reminds us that no level of alcohol consumption is safe.