The History of ‘Fröccs’, the Hungarian Wine & Soda

Fröccs: wine and soda. And Hungarian.

According to the anecdotes, Mihály Vörösmarty, the famous Hungarian poet tasted the invention of Ányos Jedlik. The famous scientist invented the Soda water besides the dynamo. In 1826, he enriched the mineral water of Balatonfüred with artificial carbonic acid and in 1841 he founded a factory.

He is said to have disliked the wine, as it was too strong for him and that is why he watered it, but it was still not the best, so he added carbonic acid to it. The scientist Jedlik said after putting the soda into the first glass of wine: Here is the Spritzer! Vörösmarty, sitting in the same company answered:

Spritzer? Is it not too German? It is better and more Hungarian to call it ‘Fröccs’.

After a few glasses he even wrote a poem.

It became popular in a very short time, as it is not just an excellent cooler in the summer heat, but the most frequently appearing drink in our literature:

Ferenc Molnár, Endre Ady, Sándor Bródy, Sándor Márai and Gyula Krúdy also wrote about it, while mentioning the Hungarian wines.

Márai, while describing Hungarian wines, writes following about Hungarian Fröccs:

‘Soda is already civilisation, it is true, but for learning and discovering the fröccs, the secret of long life, the Hungarians needed centuries and generations. It is peculiar, but true, that an individual cannot make fröccs. You learn the lesson in vain, you buy appropriate glasses in vain, yes, you measure and mix the two decilitres of wine and one decilitre of soda in vain, the authentic recipe of the fröccs is only known by the professional barman.’

The ‘Great Fröccs’, as the original is called like, is only one type.

• ‘Little Fröccs’ or ‘Whistle’ is something a man drinks for one whistle, one decilitre of soda and one decilitre of wine
• ‘Long step’, which is a reversed type: two decilitres of soda and one decilitre of wine
• ‘Carelaker’ consists of two decilitres of wine and three decilitres of soda
• ‘Dweller Fröccs’ or ‘Little Caretaker’ is made from four decilitres of soda and one decilitre of wine
• ‘Stupid’ is from half a litre of wine and half a litre of soda
• The ‘Krúdy Fröccs’ is mixed from nine decilitres of wine and one decilitre of soda, which makes the wine laugh
• ‘Lantern’ consists of one and a half litres of wine and half a litre of soda, who drank that, could look for his sobriety with a lantern
• ‘Újházy Fröccs’ is the favourite of Ede Újházy, who diluted the wine with the liquid of pickled cucumber

And the modern types:

• ‘Stony’ is made from nine decilitres of soda and one decilitre of wine
• ‘Little Hunter’ is mixed from one decilitre of coke and one decilitre of red wine
• ‘Great Hunter’ consists of two decilitres of red wine and one decilitre of coke
• ‘Sailor Fröccs’ is mixed from one decilitre rum and a mug of beer
• ‘Postman’s Fröccs’ is made from a double espresso with rum

And two interesting kinds of Fröccs:

• ‘Actor’s Fröccs’ is two decilitres of lukewarm soda
• ‘Raspberry Fröccs’ is mixed from two decilitres of wine and one decilitre of raspberry syrup

Fröccs – variations

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Fröccs is the pride of Hungarian gastronomy, one of its ingredients is the Hungarian wine, the other is a Hungaricum, a guaranteed ‘Hungarian and Special Product’, the national value, the soda, being in the Hungarian Food-book.

Published 2013 in ‘History of Pubs’, an edition of Skanzen Booklets, available in Hungarian and English. Author: Zsolt Sári. / Photos: fortepan.hu