# Why is Plum Brandy (Slivovitz) So Nasty? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 28, 2010, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-plum-brandy-slivovitz-so-nasty/534110 "2010-03-28T16:23:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2015, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-plum-brandy-slivovitz-so-nasty/534110/42 "2015-11-04T06:11:16Z")
My husband’s uncle gave us a bottle of slivovitz on the occassion of our son’s bris. It’s incredibly awful. I’m sure it’s a cheap nasty version of the drink. I keep it as a curiosity piece. The son is now 21. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2015, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-plum-brandy-slivovitz-so-nasty/534110/43 "2015-11-04T06:42:34Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > My husband’s uncle gave us a bottle of slivovitz on the occassion of our son’s bris. It’s incredibly awful. I’m sure it’s a cheap nasty version of the drink. I keep it as a curiosity piece. The son is now 21. Clearly you needed to [pickle the “results” of the bris](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downtown_Hotel) in slivovitz and he should’ve had a small sip at his bar mitzvah and drank the entire thing at 21. Ah well, hindsight is 20/20. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2015, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-plum-brandy-slivovitz-so-nasty/534110/44 "2015-11-04T12:45:10Z")
When I was teaching English in Czechoslovakia 20-odd years ago, some of my students plied me with Slivovitz after I had consumed a goodly amount of the local beer. Holy Christ, I have never been so sick in my life! Taking me back to my accommodations, they had to stop and let me out of the car so I could heave myself dry. (Of course, it didn’t help that I had consumed considerable quantities of raw salt pork and cheese during the evening too.) All I could do when I got home was collapse on my bed and watch _ **Tutti-Frutti** _ while the room spun around me! :o ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2015, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-plum-brandy-slivovitz-so-nasty/534110/45 "2015-11-04T14:17:53Z")
Slivovitz should be sold at hardware stores alongside the other industrial solvents. Thanks for reminding me to pick up a bottle now that autumn weather is coming in. ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2015, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-plum-brandy-slivovitz-so-nasty/534110/46 "2015-11-04T15:00:51Z")
About a year ago, a Serbian neighbor, since moved away, pulled out a bottle and introduced me to slivovitz. I was expecting something harsh and nasty like cheap grappa, but it was surprisingly smooth and tasty, especially given the frightening proof. I’m not even sure if he brought it from home or saw it at BevMo (as others have pointed out, you can find anything at their stores here in California!) and bought it out of nostalgia. We had a lot of fun that night. It was the only time since college that my landlord had to come from down the road to discuss noise issues. Usually I’m a very quiet tenant. But usually I’m not drinking slivovitz! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-plum-brandy-slivovitz-so-nasty/534110.md?page=2)