🥃 Dunjevača

If you know pear or plum brandy and wonder what a quince version tastes like, dunjevača is the Balkan answer: a clear, colourless distillate of fermented ripe quince. It is made in Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, both at home and in distilleries. On the EU market it falls into category 9, “fruit spirit”, with a minimum strength of 37.5% ABV.

Raw material. Quince (Cydonia oblonga) is picked at technical ripeness and then left to ripen further, because the aroma depends on how ripe the fruit is. It is crushed and fermented, and the mash is distilled, most often in copper pot stills. Some producers run it twice and keep only the middle fraction to preserve the smell of ripe quince.

Popularity. Serbia's Ministry of Agriculture reports 24.3 million litres of fruit brandy produced in the country in 2024. About 65% of that is plum brandy, followed by pear, quince, grape and apricot. The travel food guide TasteAtlas ranked dunjevača seventh among the world's strong drinks.

EU rules. A fruit spirit may not be flavoured or strengthened with added alcohol. For quince, Regulation 2019/787 allows up to 1350 g of methanol per hectolitre of pure alcohol, which is more than for plums, because quince skins are rich in pectin. Hungary has two quince palinkas, from Madaras and Nagykunság, protected as EU names.

Why it matters to you. Dunjevača smells of ripe quince, honey and flowers and is often served as an aperitif. Home-made brandy is not tested, so its methanol content and strength are unknown. The WHO reminds us that there is no safe amount of alcohol.