La Chambre aux bons vins, Bucharest

What to buy here: Romanian Tuica. Price per bottle: around $36.

Cold weather? Have a tuica, it will warm you up. Nice weather? Have a tuica, as appetizer before lunch, and you’ll be suddenly blessed with a equally nice sense of hunger. Dumpy, rainy weather? Have a tuica, it will make your blood flow faster and you’ll feel cozy and dry. Romanians will tell you that this raw and potent spirit makes you feel good regardless of the weather. This must be the reason why it is never absent from their lives, with every occasion (be it a cheerful or a sad one). In time, after hundreds and hundreds of years, it became the national drink, pretty much as whiskey is for Ireland, and uzo for Greece. With its distinctive savor and its slightly yellow hue transparency, Tuica is not easy to make. It requires double distillation, an attentive preparation of the fruit selection, a careful depositing stage and maturation in special wooden barrels that compliment and refine its taste. Traditionally, tuica is made out of fermented plums, but there are also other variations obtained from fruits such as pears, apricots or peaches. One of the most classic images of tuica is the bottle containing inside it a full grown pear, surrounded by the liquor. The pear cannot be eaten unless the bottle is broken. Therefore, when in Bucharest, you’d better put your mind to it, get your spirit high and empty a bottle of tuica, so you that you know why Romanians call it their drink. As a bonus, you also get to eat the inside pear.