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Tag: distillery

  • Csípán Csaba – distiller

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    Having arrived at the house of Csaba Csípán, the founder, owner and manager of Csípán Pállinka, he willingly showed us his distillery. The building and techniques he is using to make pálinka date back 200 years, but he has combined traditional techniques with up-to-date technology. Inside a small brick building, the distillery seemed to consist of two copper containers, some tubes and a wood-fired oven to an untrained eye, but as always with technical apparatus, it’s a lot more complicated.

    In order to make pálinka, high quality fruit has to be available. Due to its geography and specific micro-climate, this region is most suitable for cultivating fruits. Cultivation of fruits for hundreds of years have given fruits of inimitable flavour and aroma, which make pálinka or fruit brandy from this distillery distinctive.

    Next, the fruit has to be mashed, but any stony seeds have to be removed first. Then, the mashed fruit is allowed to ferment in an environment without oxygen for 10 to 15 days. Finally, the fermented mash is heated to 70 °C and the resulting vapour is made to pass a heat exchanger, which condenses the vapour into liquid. This procedure is repeated for a second distillation where an experienced worker has to be present to taste and smell the product. The first part of the second distilling contains copper, while the alcohol content is decreasing continuously during distilling. In the end, the fruit brandy turns sour and can’t be sold. The alcohol content from the second distilling is about 60% +/- 5%, but Mr. Csípán aims for 52%, which he manages by adding water from a well. He has 11 wells and one of them doesn’t give colour to the fruit brandy. When the alcohol content is acceptable, the fruit brandy is filtered and bottled. The remains from the fruits are transported into the basement and sent to a company, which turns it into fertiliser.

    Mr. Csípán has the required certificates for making fruit brandy, his production is official, but he has to pay 50% tax on everything he produces. He makes a living for his family from the distillery even though the official market is small and the black market is huge, he’s not willing to compromise on quality, he won’t sell to supermarkets, 10 persons are working part-time, he’s able to triple the production, but he wants his company to grow slowly. He sells his products mainly in Szekler land to restaurants, guesthouses and pubs within a radius of about 20 km.

    Three main types of fruit brandy are made at this distillery:

    Combination of 50% cherry and 50% distilled wine. Pour distilled wine on a bed of cherries and leave everything for at least 3 months. The result is brandy on a bed of fruit.

  • Mitru Stan – brandy maker

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    We met Mitru Stan in his distillery, which looked like it had been set up in a closed-down factory. Entering his distillery, the first things I noticed were some big cylinders made of copper, from which protruded tubes which were connected to two huge horizontal metal cylinders. There were also one electric motor next to each copper cylinder and they were probably meant to drive machines which are extracting the juices of the fruits he’s adding to his brandies.

    He first bought three distilleries in the village of Brateiu, which is renowned for all sorts of copper objects made by local coppersmiths. He brought all the equipment to the village of Sadu where he lives and adapted and improved the boilers. The two huge cylinders were used for cooling and they had originally been used as water pipes. Actually, he finished all the work in one month, no mean feat.

    He makes plum brandy, wild pear brandy and cognac. Buying brandy to an old, knowledgeable Saxon man in the village of Garbova in Transylvania, he managed to get the recipe for cognac from the probably inebriated Saxon.

    He has his own plum tree orchard and he buys wild pears from an orchard owner in the village of Marpod.

    He was very upset when he was talking about the tax he has to pay. He has to pay about 60% tax if he is producing more than 50 litres per year. If he is producing only 50 litres, he has to pay half that amount. His distillery is sealed by the authorities and he has to ask them to remove the seals when he’s going to make more brandy. Besides himself, the locals from his village also uses his distillery.

    Mitru sells his products especially from his own shop, but also at different markets in Sibiu.