Fröccs /frøʧː/, a.k.a the Spritzer is one of the most popular alcoholic drinks in Hungary. It is actually wine (mostly white wine) mixed with soda water. And most importantly, not with mineral water as is often the case nowadays, but with good old fashioned soda water.
The origins of the drink
Both Hungarians and Austrians lay claim to the origin of the fröccs, but since soda water, one of its key ingredients, and the soda bottle was invented in Hungary, we can definitely say that fröccs is a Hungarian drink.
So, here is a guide to all the different fröccs available on a typical Hungarian menu:
The Cheapskate(in Hungarian: Sóher): 900 ml of soda water to 100 ml of wine
The Tenant (in Hungarian: Kisházmester): 400 ml of soda water to 100 ml of wine
The Long Stride (in Hungarian: Hosszúlépés): 200 ml of soda water to 100 ml of wine
The Jerk or Big Spritzer (in Hungarian: Nagyfröccs): 100 ml of soda water to 200 ml of wine
The Concierge (in Hungarian: Házmester): 200 ml of soda water to 300 ml of wine
The Landlord (in Hungarian: Háziúr): 100 ml of soda water to 400 ml of wine
The Blockhead (in Hungarian: Mafla): ½ l of soda water to ½ l of wine
The Mayor (in Hungarian: Polgármester): 400 ml of soda water to 600 ml of wine
The Krúdy (in Hungarian: Krúdy fröccs) 100 ml of soda water to 900 ml of wine
The Bailer (in Hungarian: Csattos): ½ l of soda water to 1 l of wine
The origin of the word fröccs
On October 5, 1842, the poet Mihály Vörösmarty wrote his famous lines about how “pearls rise in the wine.” Of course, those bubbles only appear when you mix wine with soda water! On that very day, András Fáy — a central figure of the literary, cultural, and even financial life of the era — invited some friends to his vineyard for the harvest. Among them was the poet Gergely Czuczor, who brought along Ányos Jedlik, not only a renowned scientist of electricity but also the Hungarian inventor of the soda bottle. (The soda water itself had been discovered earlier, in 1767, by the English clergyman Joseph Priestley.)
Jedlik turned up at the harvest with the world’s very first soda bottle and, to the astonishment of everyone present, created the very first fröccs right there at the Fáy estate. At first, he called it by the German name spritzer. But Vörösmarty wasn’t fond of that foreign-sounding word — so he coined a new one: fröccs.
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