A Recipe Unique To My Family? -"Leuşteancă"

Today I got a bit out of my usual comfort zone regarding posts and decided to post a recipe, out of appreciation for the dish and out of curiosity for how rare it actually is. Regarding my affinity for it, I must admit that, although I rarely drink, this particular combination simply begs for you to try it because of how unique it is. And as for the curiosity part, there I'd like you to help me in the comments, by telling me if you've ever encountered something similar in your country/culture before.

So, without further ado, here is the history of my family's favourite winter drink: in the Romanian countryside you can find many an old man or woman, who's well past their 90s or maybe even crossed the century border that will tell you that there's nothing more they enjoy than a small cup of plum brandy in the morning to get them started for their rough Winter day. They say it's so good it's almost like a medicine (and given their age they can't be completely wrong, I guess), and they have been keeping this tradition since the time of their grandfathers, and so on.

"But hey, (you may be thinking right now) that's not so unusual, people in my country sometimes drink hard liquor in the mornings to to help them get warm! And plum brandy? What's so great about that? It's basically just another flavour of brandy, right?"
Well, if those thoughts crossed your mind, then you are right, to a certain extent, but the thing is, I am talking here about plum brandy prepared in a certain way, so here goes:

Basically, at one certain time, someone in my family tree decided, that this simple drink just isn't enough, so he spiced it up a bit (quite literally), and despite the strange combination that gave birth to it, this was truly a spark of rural genius!
He took the plum brandy and put it on the stove until it boiled, and in the composition he added -2 small spoons of honey (for sweetness), a few grains of pepper (here's the spice I was talking about!), and finally, he put in the mix the source of this drink's nickname and its green colour: lovage, a plant or herb with a strong dark green colour, in case you're not familiar with it, which in the Romanian language is called "Leuştean". In case you're curious, the drink's pronunciation goes something like:
lheushteanchah ( probably quite strange for an outsider).

Anyway, the taste lives up to the uniqueness of its recipe, being a blend of subtle sweetness and spiciness, enveloped by a strong savour of herbal alcohol. The finished product should look something like this:

Source: my grandma
Since it's still winter, if you're feeling culinarily adventurous, you should definitely give it a try, and taste not only Romanian tradition, but also a unique twist on it.
My only regret is that I can't fully convey the savour of this drink with words alone. It is truly a "you've got to experience it to understand it" kind of moment, the moment you let yourself go with a hot cup of Leuşteancă on a freezing Winter morning!

'Til we meet again!