When it comes to high-quality and Hungarian-related alcohols, most of us probably think of the good Hungarian wines, Unicum, pálinka, or maybe the craft beers. But the one thing that wouldn't come to our mind for sure, is gin. No wonder, so far there was no such thing as Hungarian gin. Luckily, the renaissance of gin slowly reached us in the last 3-4 years: we can get acquainted with this elegant drink from the basic ones to the specialties. This process led to the establishment of the First Hungarian Gin Manufactory in 2018 under the leadership of Bálint Dámosy, and that, in 2019, to their first drink: Opera Gin.

The main component of this London Dry gin is juniper berries, and we can discover spices such as angelica root, coriander seed, iris root, liquorice, grapefruit peel, Vietnamese lemongrass, aniseed, lavender and cubeb. The drink also has a secret ingredient: this is the poppy seed, which is a 100% Hungarian ingredient, as we are world leaders in the consumption of it. Until this moment, we haven't seen it as a gin component, and it’s a shame. Opera gin is something everyone should try.

For the time being, the Hotsy Totsy on Síp Street is the only place where you will surely find this specialty, but more places coming soon!