Max Stein

The views expressed in db Reader do not represent the views of the drinks business.

Tuica – Romania’s “White Lightning”

6th December, 2012 by Max Stein

Slideshow - 0 pages

Slideshow

Romania’s got more than Dracula and Transylvania.

Dracula’s Castle

When we think of Romania, several things may come to mind: gloomy images of spooked peasants hoisting pitchforks and torches, dark, crumbling castles perched atop mountains illuminated by cracked flashes of lightning, rolling hills dotted by huts and farmlands set beneath dark, swollen clouds.

Well… it does encompass Transylvania, the birthplace of the Dracula legend. These ghoulish associations aside, Romania is a fascinating country with a beautiful geography and breath-taking landscapes, friendly and warm people, and lots of fascinating history to explore.

Apart from being a beautiful and attractive country to visit, not to mention a hot tourist spot as of late, Romania has something very special to contribute to unique alcoholic beverages. In America,….

Share17K

Tweet

Pin16

Share

Continue reading

Get unlimited access to The Drinks Business, from just £10.75 per month

Join The Drinks Business
Already a subscriber? Login

Slideshow - 0 pages

Slideshow

Featured in the latest newsletter from db

click here to sign up

Charges mount up against e-commerce platform Winebuyers

10 new Masters of Wine for 2021 with first in Italy

One-of-a-kind D’ussé Cognac bottled in honour of Jay-Z’s birthday set for auction at Sotheby’s

Wine trade writes open letter to Under-Secretary of State Victoria Prentis

DeAille Tam named Asia’s Best Female Chef 2021

The week in pictures

Argentinian winery Wapisa reveals ‘stunning’ results of ocean wine ageing experiment

Vera Wang releases limited edition vodka

Kate Thornton calls for end to gender bias on alcohol duty for wine drinkers

15 Responses to “Tuica – Romania’s “White Lightning””

1. Eric says:

   June 27, 2013 at 5:24 am

   Do you know anywhere that sell Tuica in the United States or ships it?

   Reply
   • Poolica Franaru says:

     April 4, 2017 at 8:46 pm

     Go to Trader Joe’s, Amazon, Jon’s supermarket, or your local church – there will be people there that distill their own

     Reply
   • Sofia Tudose says:

     July 4, 2018 at 10:16 pm

     Bevmo carries some (decent) tuica

     Reply
2. Luciano says:

   July 8, 2013 at 2:53 pm

   Hi!
   Are you interested for Tzuica?

   Reply
   • Jack Ehrman says:

     December 11, 2017 at 6:08 pm

     Would like to know ware to buy

     Reply
     • Jack Ehrman says:

       December 11, 2017 at 10:48 pm

       Yes I would like to buy

       Reply
3. Vasile says:

   March 8, 2014 at 12:38 am

   where can i buy some in Chicago ?

   Reply
   • Emilio Corleonne says:

     February 16, 2015 at 5:01 pm

     Ma Vasile , poti sa iei tuica de la Liquor Barn in Niles si in Wheeling IL. Daca iei12 litrii , o iei cu 15-16 pe litru. E un rus Mike acolo . They do ship . Au multe tipuri in special din Croatia si Serbia. Mie imi place , mi-am luat 24 litrii si 5 so dus .
     Nelu de la Margau

     Reply
4. diva lady says:

   March 27, 2014 at 3:28 pm

   That tuica you find at the liquor store is not the same thing. I have a friend from Romania and I was blown away. It tingles everywhere in your whole body ( including places only your spouse should touch) the drink they have at the liquor stores is nothing like the real stuff. I feel blessed to have tried it a few times as he goes back home to visit. I also like how a capful will warm and tingle your whole body. It takes less then a shot to get you drunk even if you drink. A teaspoon maybe too much for someone who doesn’t drink at all. If you ever go to Romania then you have to try it but don’t over do it. You will love the colorless, warming, tingling, Romanian’s great Țuică.

   Reply
5. JAI says:

   May 6, 2014 at 2:31 am

   I have a Romanian neighbor who makes his own tuica – and it is amazing. Never ask where you can buy it, whatever you may buy is not the real thing. He makes his tuica from plums, and in the final aging he adds dried plums to add a little color, flavor, and sweetness.

   Reply
6. Vraciu says:

   August 28, 2014 at 4:38 pm

   My dad came from Romania, grew up in Chicago area, settled in SoCal…His life-long friend, who had moved to Seattle, would come to visit 3-4 times a year….Tho they never could get their hands on Tuica, Slivovitz was their preferred substitute…Rocket fuel! After severl rounds, they would dance on our dining table…

   So, give Slivovitz a go…I’ve never had Tuica, but all the Romanians here say it’s about as good as the real thing…

   BOOM!

   Reply
7. Curtis says:

   December 24, 2014 at 9:52 pm

   Indeed the stuff you can buy here isn’t usually the real stuff but close enough for most. My wife is Romanian and her father made most of what I have although some friends came back from a wedding and brought me some from there.

   Reply
8. Emilio Corleonne says:

   February 16, 2015 at 3:59 pm

   You can buy Tuica, Slibovitz at the Liqour Barn In Wheeling , IL or Niles IL , they even ship it to your place and if you buy a case ( 12 ) one can get it for $15 per liter. Badel, made in Croatia, several varieties from Serbia , not sure if they have Romanian, there. Tare buna ! Noroc !

   Reply
9. Anonymous Coward says:

   February 16, 2016 at 3:29 pm

   Tuica is actually never made of anything but plums, or plum-like fruit, like cherries (but that’s considered medicine, not a drink). Brandy made from other fruit is called rachie (sounds somewhat like “rakeea”) or rachiu (try saying “rakew”), depending on region.

   Also, it’s traditionally not a white spirit. It’s the past some five decades of communist rule followed by two more decades of ruthless, rule-less capitalism that have induced this impression. The white destillate is in fact an unfinished product. For tsuica to become worthy of its name, it has to age for at least one year in mulberry wood barrels – to my knowlege, it’s the only alcoholic beverage aged this way, every other aged spirit I know of uses oak. This gives it color, enhances the fragrance – without adding as many tannins as are common in beverages aged in oak barrels – and makes it extremely smooth, also slightly reducing its alcohol content. You typically won’t find the leathery fragrance specific to most whiskies in tsuica.

   Plus, you don’t need to add yeast to get the fermentation going. The plums are usually not picked from the tree. Grass is allowed to grow around the trees, and plums are gently shaken from the trees for picking, in order for only the ripest plums to fall down and then picked – the grass may pierce the skin of the plums, helping the fermentation to start, but helps keeping them clean. Traditionally, the only chemical treatment plum trees receive is having their stem painted with lime each spring, so there’s no need to wash the plums to remove potentially harmful chemicals. Fermentation starts spontaneously, and traditionally happens in large wooden vats, some 5000 or 10000 liters large, to which a new layer of freshly picked, extremely ripe, sweet and fragrant plums is added each day, until the vat is full. Once filled, the surface of the last layer of plums dries out, creating sort of a skin, which helps keeping all alcohol and fragrance set free/developed during fermentation inside the vat. If you pierce the skin, or if you keep the vat in a place too humid for the skin to form, what you’ll get after distillation will be of low quality – rough and flavorless. After about two to six weeks since skin forming, depending on temperature (something that’s best asserted by a maker’s eye, there’s no instrument more precise than that), you can start destillation.

   Reply
10. Virgil says:

    November 24, 2020 at 10:07 am

    This guy knows what he is talking about.

    Reply