Small-batch syrups, just the way they should be
Tucked away in a quiet courtyard in Alsópáhok, Csilla Nagy has created her own little syrup sanctuary. Here, rich, colorful syrups are made not from artificial flavors, but from real, carefully chosen fruit.
Csilla didn’t follow a long-standing family recipe — syrup-making became her personal reinvention, a new start built on curiosity and professional know-how. Determined to craft syrups without preservatives while preserving all the goodness of the fruit, she trained as a food preservation specialist.
The result? Fourteen irresistible flavors that taste like biting straight into the fruit.
Reinvention as a way of life
Csilla believes in turning life upside down every seven years. She has worked in market research, healthcare, retail, and hospitality — as she puts it, “The only thing I haven’t done is cast church bells.”
In 2024, her latest seven-year cycle began with syrup-making in her new home, Alsópáhok. It wasn’t just about taste. Csilla wanted to understand the science, too — so she earned a qualification to ensure her syrups are both long-lasting and nutritionally rich, without relying on preservatives.
As if you’re biting into fresh fruit
Most of Csilla’s ingredients come from local farmers. Apples, strawberries, and blackberries arrive fresh from Bókaháza. Elderflowers? She picks them herself in May, far from busy roads, in clean forest areas. She never buys industrial fruit purées. Every berry, every apple is pressed and processed fresh by her own hands. The syrups are hot-filled, but without preservatives. Minimal water is added — sometimes none at all — resulting in rich, velvety syrups with up to 60% fruit content.
Even the pulp stays in when it adds to the experience. For fruits like sour cherry or redcurrant, Csilla leaves the flesh for its texture and nutrients.
A taste of tradition and adventure
Millu Manufaktúra’s range is divided into two main categories:
- Classic Hungarian fruits: apple, strawberry, raspberry, sour cherry, redcurrant, blackberry, elderflower.
- Refreshing summer exotics: lime, orange, grapefruit-ginger, mango.
Even with exotic ingredients, Csilla insists on natural methods: she presses citrus fruits by hand and uses real ginger infusions, avoiding artificial flavors entirely. Her recipes follow a consistent base but are fine-tuned after tasting — focusing on consistent, small-batch quality rather than mass production.
Product highlights
Apple, strawberry & blackberry syrups — Familiar, yet fresh
For these syrups, Csilla sources fruit from Bókaháza, ensuring every bottle reflects the flavors of the region. Each fruit is hand-selected, as preservative-free production requires extra care to avoid overripe or damaged produce. Only perfectly ripe fruit is processed immediately.
The apple syrup is clear and golden, with a gentle sweetness and crisp acidity — tasting just like a freshly bitten apple. Light and refreshing with soda, gently spiced when served warm, like an apple tea.
The strawberry syrup is bright red, thick, and full-bodied, with an intense aroma and the sweetness of fresh-picked berries.
Blackberry syrup is a deep, elegant burgundy with a bold, slightly tart yet rounded flavor — ideal for those who enjoy richer, more complex fruit notes.
All three syrups contain no artificial colors or flavors — only fruit, a little sugar, and the care of traditional handcrafting.
Where to buy
- Hévíz Farmers’ Market
The Life-Giving Winds of the Ice Age: How Loess Shaped the Land Did you know that Transdanubia’s rich, golden soils are actually a gift from the winds of the Ice Age? Loess isn’t just a dry geological term — it’s an ancient natural recipe that gave rise to some of the most fertile soils in the Carpathian Basin. Where vineyards grow today and birds nest in loess cliffs, strong winds once carried yellow dust across the landscape — for thousands of years. Learn how this unique sediment shaped the land and why loess is still essential for sustainable farming today. What Is Loess and How Did It Form? The term loess comes from the German word lose, meaning "loose." Loess is a fine-grained, yellowish sediment that was deposited during the Pleistocene epoch (2.58–0.01 million years ago), particularly during glacial periods. It formed in periglacial environments south of the great Scandinavian ice sheet — cold, dry landscapes with little or no vegetation. The dust was carried by strong Ice Age winds from floodplains and barren steppes, and slowly accumulated over tens of thousands of years. Eventually, calcium carbonate cemented these layers into loess, which developed characteristic vertical fissures. It’s important to note that the Pleistocene wasn't a single “Ice Age,” but a period that included alternating cold and warm phases — some even warmer than today. Loess and the Landscape Loess gave the Carpathian Basin — especially Transdanubia — its distinct terrain. Steep loess cliffs (sometimes up to 10 meters high), caves that provide nesting sites for bee-eaters and sand martins, centuries-old sunken roads carved into hillsides, and exposed root systems are all part of the landscape’s geological legacy. Together, they define the unique character of this region — shaped by time, wind, and stone. Fertility and Water Retention Loess-rich areas have produced some of the most fertile soils in the region. Many local producers farm on land that sits atop loess. This creates an excellent foundation for agriculture — not just because of the high humus content, but also because loess has outstanding water-holding capacity. Its vertical pores allow moisture to penetrate deeply and remain in the soil, even during dry periods. A Modern Echo — Dust from the Sahara Interestingly, the fine Saharan dust that now reaches Central Europe more frequently can be seen as a modern counterpart to loess-forming material. It’s a reminder that the powerful natural forces that shaped the land long ago are still at work today — just on a different scale.
