How do you drink Tokaji Essencia?

Tokaji dessert wines such as Tokaji Aszú and Essencia is recommended to consume slightly chilled around 10 to 13 °C. Although drinking Tokaji Essencia on higher, room temperatures, the sweetness and aromas might appear more pronounced, the wine will also appear less fresh. Tokaji Szamorodni can be served at lower temperatures between 8 – 12 °C than an Tokaji Aszú or Tokaji Essencia, as the sugar content in a Szamorodni is significantly lower.

In terms of quantities, Tokaji Essencia is highly concentrated, and is therefore best to consume in tiny amounts daily. In the old days Tokaji Essencia was prescribed to be taken with one table spoon daily, just like medicine due to its penicillin content and restorative health benefits. Due to such high concentration, this elixir is not only packed with beneficial properties – the quintessence of grape – but also its sugar content is something to be mindful of. The sugar content is astonishingly higher than the sugar content in honey. Whilst honey is around 400 grams per litre, Tokaji Essencia is just over 600 grams per litre. The reason this is possible is because such sweetness is also counter balanced by an equally high acidity. As surprising as it sounds, it has higher acidity than vinegar. Hence why the careful instructions of enjoying Tokaji Essencia in reasonably small quantities, of a table spoon, or in small shot glasses, just as one wouldn’t want to drink a large wine glass of honey, or vinegar.

Yet, the real beauty of Tokaji Essencia is, that such intense battle between extreme high sugar content and extreme high acidity ends in a perfect harmony, of a beautifully fragrant and lusciously enjoyable elixir.