Pálenka
In Czechia, Slovakia, and Poland, pálenka is any kind of distilled beverage, but especially fruit brandy. The term is often used generically for all kinds of liquors, including vodka, gin and borovička. The word derives from the Slavonic stem "páliť", to burn.
Similar products exist in Austria and Hungary under the name pálinka, and in Romania, pălincă.
Most traditional types of pálenka in Moravia and Slovakia are slivovica, ražná, borovička, hruškovica, jablkovica. Popular are also čerešňovica and marhuľovica. Very distinctive among pálenkas are the ones distilled from fermented forest berries, including raspberries, blueberries, wild black thorn and cranberries. Drienkovica was popularized by the former Slovak president Rudolf Schuster.
Less common now but historically popular distillates include jeřabinka and . The latter was quite popular prior to the First World War, and features prominently in the works of Jaroslav Hasek, Petr Bezruč and Sigmund Freud.
