Skip to content
ZETEA.USA

The serve

Țuică & Pălincă cocktail recipes.

Romanian fruit brandy is distilled from whole fruit and nothing else — plum, pear, apple, sour cherry, grape, quince and blackcurrant. That purity makes it an exceptional cocktail base: it brings orchard aroma where vodka brings neutrality, and fruit definition where gin brings botanicals. Below are the house serves we build with bartenders and trade partners across the United States, starting with the plum cocktail that defines the category.

Transylvanian Plum Sour cocktail recipe made with ZETEA Țuică de Transilvania (plum)

Silky · Stone fruit · Bright acidity

Transylvanian Plum Sour

The definitive plum cocktail: orchard țuică given a citrus spine and a soft, silky crown. It is the serve that converts spirit-forward drinkers to Romanian plum brandy in one sip.

Ingredients

  • 1½ oz ZETEA Țuică de Transilvania
  • ¾ oz fresh lemon juice
  • ½ oz honey syrup (2:1)
  • ½ oz plum purée or plum jam
  • 2 dashes aromatic bitters
  • Optional: ½ oz egg white or aquafaba

Method

  1. Dry shake all ingredients without ice if using egg white.
  2. Add ice and shake hard for 12 seconds until the tin frosts.
  3. Double strain into a chilled coupe.

Garnish — Dehydrated plum wheel and three drops of bitters.

Glass: CoupeExplore ZETEA Țuică de Transilvania (plum)
Transylvanian Pear Fizz cocktail recipe made with ZETEA Pălincă de Pere (pear)

Crisp · Perfumed · Effervescent

Transylvanian Pear Fizz

Williams pear distillate is one of the most perfumed spirits in the world. Lengthened with soda, it becomes a long, dry aperitivo that carries orchard aroma across the whole table.

Ingredients

  • 1½ oz ZETEA Pălincă de Pere
  • ¾ oz fresh lemon juice
  • ½ oz vanilla-pear syrup
  • Chilled soda water to top

Method

  1. Shake brandy, lemon and syrup with ice.
  2. Strain into an ice-filled highball.
  3. Top with soda and lift once with a bar spoon.

Garnish — Fanned pear slice and a lemon twist.

Glass: HighballExplore ZETEA Pălincă de Pere (pear)
Transylvanian Orchard Buck cocktail recipe made with ZETEA Pălincă de Mere 50%

Spiced · Dry apple · Ginger heat

Transylvanian Orchard Buck

Apple pălincă distilled at 50% has the backbone to stand up to ginger. The result is a mule with real orchard character rather than sweetened apple flavouring.

Ingredients

  • 2 oz ZETEA Pălincă de Mere
  • ½ oz fresh lime juice
  • Ginger beer to top
  • 2 dashes apple or cardamom bitters

Method

  1. Build over cubed ice in a chilled mug.
  2. Add lime and bitters, then top with ginger beer.
  3. Stir gently to combine.

Garnish — Apple fan and a candied ginger coin.

Glass: Copper mug or highballExplore ZETEA Pălincă de Mere 50%
Golden Orchard Spritz cocktail recipe made with ZETEA Pălincă de Mere 50%

Light · Sparkling · Aperitif

Golden Orchard Spritz

A low-intervention spritz built for late afternoon: apple brandy, dry sparkling wine and a whisper of elderflower, all orchard and no syrupy weight.

Ingredients

  • 1 oz ZETEA Pălincă de Mere
  • ½ oz elderflower liqueur
  • 3 oz dry sparkling wine
  • 1 oz soda water

Method

  1. Fill a wine glass with ice.
  2. Add pălincă and elderflower, stir once.
  3. Top with sparkling wine and soda.

Garnish — Green apple ribbon and mint sprig.

Glass: Large wine glassExplore ZETEA Pălincă de Mere 50%
Transylvanian Cherry Spritz cocktail recipe made with ZETEA Pălincă de Vișine 50%

Sour cherry · Bittersweet · Sparkling

Transylvanian Cherry Spritz

Sour cherry pălincă carries an almond-kernel bitterness that makes a spritz taste grown-up. This is the ZETEA answer to the standard Italian aperitivo.

Ingredients

  • 1½ oz ZETEA Pălincă de Vișine
  • ½ oz cherry syrup
  • 3 oz prosecco
  • Soda water to top

Method

  1. Build over ice in a wine glass.
  2. Add prosecco last and top with soda.

Garnish — Two brandied cherries and an orange twist.

Glass: Wine glassExplore ZETEA Pălincă de Vișine 50%
Transylvanian Cherry Smash cocktail recipe made with ZETEA Pălincă de Vișine 50%

Juicy · Herbal · Crushed ice

Transylvanian Cherry Smash

Muddled fruit, mint and crushed ice: the fastest way to show a guest what wild sour cherry tastes like when nothing is added but the fruit itself.

Ingredients

  • 2 oz ZETEA Pălincă de Vișine
  • 4 fresh cherries, pitted
  • 6 mint leaves
  • ½ oz lemon juice
  • ¼ oz simple syrup

Method

  1. Muddle cherries, mint and syrup in the glass.
  2. Add pălincă and lemon, fill with crushed ice.
  3. Churn with a bar spoon and cap with more ice.

Garnish — Mint bouquet and a cherry on the pick.

Glass: Rocks glassExplore ZETEA Pălincă de Vișine 50%
Transylvanian Vineyard Sour cocktail recipe made with ZETEA Pălincă de Struguri 50%

Bright · Floral · Citrus lift

Transylvanian Vineyard Sour

Grape pălincă sits between eau-de-vie and young brandy. Honey and white grape juice round it out without dulling its floral edge.

Ingredients

  • 1½ oz ZETEA Pălincă de Struguri
  • ¾ oz lemon juice
  • ½ oz honey syrup
  • ½ oz white grape juice
  • 2 dashes orange bitters

Method

  1. Shake hard with ice.
  2. Strain into a chilled coupe.

Garnish — Frozen grape and a lemon twist.

Glass: CoupeExplore ZETEA Pălincă de Struguri 50%
Vineyard Highball cocktail recipe made with ZETEA Pălincă de Struguri 50%

Crisp · Dry · Refreshing

Vineyard Highball

The purest expression of the grape — a two-minute build that works as well at a tasting table as it does on a summer terrace.

Ingredients

  • 1¾ oz ZETEA Pălincă de Struguri
  • ½ oz lime juice
  • 1 bar spoon white grape juice
  • Premium tonic to top

Method

  1. Build over ice in a highball.
  2. Top with tonic and stir once.

Garnish — Halved green grapes and a grape leaf.

Glass: HighballExplore ZETEA Pălincă de Struguri 50%
Golden Quince Sparkler cocktail recipe made with ZETEA Pălincă de Gutui 50%

Honeyed · Aromatic · Autumnal

Golden Quince Sparkler

Quince is the most fragrant fruit in the Transylvanian orchard and the hardest to distil. Sparkling wine lifts that perfume into the room.

Ingredients

  • 1 oz ZETEA Pălincă de Gutui
  • ½ oz quince or honey syrup
  • ¼ oz lemon juice
  • Brut sparkling wine to top

Method

  1. Shake brandy, syrup and lemon with ice.
  2. Strain into a chilled flute and top with sparkling wine.

Garnish — Thin quince slice.

Glass: FluteExplore ZETEA Pălincă de Gutui 50%
Golden Quince Elixir cocktail recipe made with ZETEA Pălincă de Gutui 50%

Rich · Spiced · Digestif

Golden Quince Elixir

A slow, stirred serve for the end of the meal, where quince meets warm spice and a touch of vermouth weight.

Ingredients

  • 2 oz ZETEA Pălincă de Gutui
  • ½ oz dry vermouth
  • ¼ oz honey-cinnamon syrup
  • 2 dashes orange bitters

Method

  1. Stir over block ice for 25 seconds.
  2. Strain into a chilled glass.

Garnish — Expressed orange peel and a cinnamon stick.

Glass: Nick & NoraExplore ZETEA Pălincă de Gutui 50%
Wild Berry Mojito cocktail recipe made with ZETEA Pălincă de Coacăze 50%

Wild fruit · Mint · Long

Wild Berry Mojito

Blackcurrant pălincă replaces rum entirely here — deeper, drier and unmistakably forest-fruit.

Ingredients

  • 1¾ oz ZETEA Pălincă de Coacăze
  • 10 mint leaves
  • ¾ oz lime juice
  • ½ oz cane syrup
  • Soda water to top

Method

  1. Clap the mint and drop it into the glass.
  2. Add brandy, lime and syrup, fill with crushed ice and churn.
  3. Top with soda.

Garnish — Mint crown and fresh blackcurrants.

Glass: HighballExplore ZETEA Pălincă de Coacăze 50%
Transylvanian Currant Fizz cocktail recipe made with ZETEA Pălincă de Coacăze 50%

Tart · Sparkling · Deep colour

Transylvanian Currant Fizz

Bracingly tart and dramatically coloured, this fizz is the easiest way to introduce blackcurrant brandy to a by-the-glass list.

Ingredients

  • 1½ oz ZETEA Pălincă de Coacăze
  • ¾ oz lemon juice
  • ½ oz blackcurrant syrup
  • Soda water to top

Method

  1. Shake all but the soda.
  2. Strain over ice and top with soda.

Garnish — Currant sprig and lemon wheel.

Glass: HighballExplore ZETEA Pălincă de Coacăze 50%

Building a fruit brandy program.

Țuică and pălincă reward simple builds. Keep sugar low, let acid do the work, and never bury the distillate — a single orchard fruit should still be identifiable in the finished drink. For back-bar training, batching guidance and menu development, our trade team works directly with importers, retailers and beverage directors.

Trade partnershipsFull portfolio

Please enjoy responsibly. For adults 21 and older.