HIMBEERE251

Raspberry Liqueur

Katharina Zott studied enology in California and earned her doctorate in Bordeaux. For the love of the craft, she gave up her scientific career and took over her family’s distillery. This is located in Ustersbach, Bavarian Swabia. Her family has been farming there since 1530. Katherina exclusively processes fruit from her own cultivation. HIMBEERE 251 is a raspberry liqueur of a completely different kind. On the one hand, the raspberries are elaborately strained to obtain the purest possible fruit aroma, and on the other hand, only raspberry brandy is used.

Nose

fresh perfume scent | intense raspberry aroma | floral

Taste

raspberry | apricot | pineapple

Finish

raspberry | tart-sour | fruity

  • Vegan
  • Maceration
  • Fermentation by Freimeister
  • Pot still
  • Fractionating column
  • Barrel aging

Classy

Funky

Freaky

Ingredients

Himbeerbrand durch Mazeration und Destillation | Himbeerdirektsaft | Zucker

Preparation Liqueurs, especially fruit liqueurs, have a bad reputation. Unfortunately, it must be said that this reputation is mostly justified. But how did it come about?

If you look into the past, you quickly realize that a nostalgic glorification is by no means appropriate. In a book on liqueur production from the middle of the 20th century, the production of liqueurs is described as the "mixing of semi-finished products such as rectified spirit, sugar and fruit juice". Going back even further and reading an early 19th-century manual for the "Liqueur-Fabrikant," (liqueur maker) it recommends using "spiritus rectificatissimi," a precursor to today's neutral alcohol, to make liqueurs.

Cheap, sticky sweet and lacking in aromatic complexity - this is still the image of liqueurs today, which was probably similar in the past.

Nevertheless, we asked Katharina Zott to create a raspberry liqueur for the Freimeisterkollektiv to dispel any preconceptions about liqueurs. What Katharina produced exclusively for us is, on the one hand, in stark contrast to the described liqueur tradition, and on the other hand, her fruit liqueur also consists of only three ingredients: Alcohol, fruit and sugar.

However, this is exactly where the difference lies. Katharina uses only raspberries from her family’s cultivation. She has chosen two different varieties of raspberries: a summer variety with a gentle juice profile and a variety that is harvested in late summer and has an aroma that is rich in acid. The two berry varieties are cold and gently pressed separately into a direct juice.

The alcohol used for this liqueur is not a cheap neutral alcohol, but exclusively a raspberry brandy obtained by maceration and distillation. Katharina partially strains the raspberries to avoid a woody aftertaste in the brandy. The strained berries are partially fermented, and then grain distillate is added at a ratio of 5:1. This means that for every 5 kilograms of raspberries, there is one liter of alcohol. From this mixture, Katharina distills an intensely aromatic raspberry brandy, which is mixed with the one hundred percent direct juice. Finally, she adds just the right amount of sugar to perfectly balance the acidity and sweetness.

"I wanted to move away from sweet liqueurs and toward a fine digestive," says Katharina, describing her work for the Freimeisterkollektiv. The immediate aromas of fresh raspberries characterize this drink. This no longer has anything to do with conventional liqueurs. HIMBEERE 251 impressively condenses the aroma profile of the raspberry and brings it to the point. One is overwhelmed by the complexity and intensity. With this creation, Katharina has taken a radical new direction in the liqueur tradition.
Ustersbach | Swabia (Bavaria)
  • Katharina Zott

    Distiller | Ustersbach | Swabia (Bavaria)