Zwack Unicum Museum — Attraction in Budapest

A fun and inexpensive museum. Just 2,200 HUF on a Monday afternoon ($7.85 US at the current exchange rate). It started out with a 10/15 minute video detailing the history of the Zwack family/brand. Afterwards is a 10/15 minute walking tour of the distillery...Smelling some of the herbs and spices used in Unicum, and walking between huge barrels of it. During the tour, given in English or Hungarian, we also got to sample Unicum and Unicum Silva right from the barrel. If you ordered those two drinks at a bar it would already be more than the price of admission here. Unicum is a strong drink, and not for everyone. However it's worth trying as the drink/brand/business is over 200 years old and a drink of Hungary (along with Palinka). After that, it'll take about another 15 minutes to visit the rest of the museum on your own, with displays offering written explorations in Hungarian, English and I think a 3rd language but don't remember for sure on that 3rd one.

Finally, the gift shop priced right too and you'll spend 10/15 minutes browsing. I bought 3 colored, 16 paged, guides on the history of Zwack, a Zwack mug, and a Zwack tshirt with the drowning man for a total of 3,400 HUF. That's $12.10 US at today's exchange rate of 280 per $1.00.

They sell tons of drinks at the gift shop too. (Bottles to take home, not to drink there). Honestly I didn't look closely at them so I can't tell you anything on the price. I can just tell you their were a lot.

An hour or so for the whole experience. Walking distance from the number 1 or 2 tram. Obviously you'll have to look it up to make sure you get off at...

Discovering Unicum factory.

We purchased a Hop on Hop off pass during our last full day in Budapest. Ultimately, we stopped at the Zwack Unicum Museum because it was a designated stop. We actually recommend the Hop on Hop off in Budapest, because some of the main points are dispersed. So it's a quick way to access and discover the main attractions.

We never heard from Unicum prior to visiting Budapest. So this got us curious about the famous drink from Hungary. We decided to give it a shot and we are happy to have discovered. Just to be clear, the museum is on the route but there is still a fee to enter. FYI, it was approximately $10 CAD to enter.

The tour.

During your tour, you will get the typical information about the factory, the history and how they got started. There is a guide that shows you an overview of the receipt and herbs they use. There is a specific way to store and treat the ingredients and of course a taste test of two types of Unicum liquor. Personally I (Eli) thought really strong but Serge seemed to like it!

Near the end of the tour, they bring you to an old artifacts room. This is where they keep all the different bottles used over time, Unicum advertising, etc

They also have a gift shop. So if you want, there's a possibility to bring a Unicum souvenir back home.

Serge: 4+ Eli: 4

Do we recommend: Yes, we really liked the experience. It's something new and unique from the city of Budapest.

Tips:

Check the hours of operation. They were very accommodating since we arrived right at the cutoff time Get ready ! Because this...

Lots of fun and plenty of free samples to give you a buzz. Unicum translated from Hungarian means "unique" given its name by the emperor who took it to help with his digestive problems. The history of the product developed by the Zwack family is very interesting. Also very interesting that the communist took over the business but the family was eventually able to get it back. It probably helps some because it is 80 proof alcohol but the unique blend of herbs gives it a very unique "somewhat bitter and medicinal" flavor. However the more untraditional flavors of plum and coffee are more palatable and the reserve which is made with adding a wine but still 80 proof goes down easier. Still the hungarians I believe prefer the traditional and they consume most of it in their country. It is not exported to the USA according to our guide because they will not disclose the very secret family ingredients to the FDA. The tiny liquor bottle collection of I believe 17,000 bottles is unique if you're into bottle collections. It was apparently donated by someone who had hoarded all these little bottles. His wife probably told him to get them out of the house, that's my conjecture. If you're looking for something unique to do in Budapest this is the tour. Lastly, the water man is their trademark and a scary...