Unicum, one of Hungary’s most popular drinks, is designated a Hungaricum, a uniquely Hungarian product. Today, the Zwacks are also known for Vilmos pear brandy, Fütyölős apricot eau de vie and St. Hubertus bittersweet orange liqueur, they also recently started a wine division with the Dobogó Tokaji Aszú as its signature product.

The museum pays tribute to the 200-year history of Unicum and the Zwack family that concocted it. A trip to the museum begins with a twenty-minute film (offered in different languages) and wraps up in the turn-of-the-century tasting room where guests have a chance to taste Unicum and other Zwack products. In between, visitors to the museum are taken on a journey, discovering the history of a family obsessed with a drink called Unicum.

The Zwack story begins by serving Unicum to the Austro-Hungarian emperor, followed by WWI and the carefree boom years between the wars when the Duke of Windsor was a regular visitor to Hungary and a fervent fan of Zwack Barack Pálinka. Then came the devastating bombardments over Budapest, when the factory was completely destroyed, the Jewish persecutions and the equally devastating “liberation” by the Russian army, and finally the Communist takeover of all private property including the Zwacks’ factory and possessions.

The Museum follows the Zwack family into emigration, via Ellis Island, and their life in New York and Chicago which coincided with the Hungarian Revolution in 1956. The family returned to Hungary in time for the fall of the Berlin Wall and the gradual return of the country and the factory to present-day prosperity and freedom, while the visit ends with a tongue-in-cheek vision of Unicum in the future.

Museum open: Weekdays 10 a.m.-6 p.m.