HISTORY OF POMACE „TÖRKÖLY” PÁLINKA PRODUCTION

Nobody knows when the production of this distilled alcohol (made from grape pomace also known as marc) started exactly. There are assumptions that Arabs had already produced it 6000 years ago and the master cooks of Cleopatra were also famous from making it in the ancient Egypt. Today, the Italian version of this distilled alcohol has gained its mark and it is well-known all over the world under the name grappa. It has been used for medical purposes in the Italian Monasteries where they started to distill grappa from pomace in order to facilitate digestion in the 12th and 13th century. Later on, alchemists tried to refine this alcohol and then it slowly became popular among the peasants of the time as well. It gained wider renown in the 15th century when its first consignment was launched to Germany. Poor peasants, who lived in infertile North-Italy, South-Tyrol and Lombardy areas, could earn good living from producing grappa and in a short amount of time they became the masters of pomace distillation.

Garden distiller (contemporary engraving, 1521)	Steam distiller with low temperatures, (contemporary engraving)