Poster for Unicum - The Hungarian National Accelerator

I came across this poster in Budapest and I love it because of the gothic colour and the humour and the fact that I had no idea what Unicum was when I photographed it.

Unicum is in fact a Hungarian herbal digestif liqueur and it's been made by the Zwack family (hence the name on the poster) since the 1840s.

It's a secret blend of over 40 different herbs and is known as the "Hungarian National Accelerator" presumably because its beneficial effects on the national stomach keep them all going! 

It has a bitter taste and probably an acquired one and it comes in the unusual bomb-shaped bottled pictured in the poster. The name "Unicum" means unique, and came about because Josef II, Habsburg Emperor is said to have exclaimed "Das ist unicum!" after taking a sip.