At the end of the 18th century, Emperor Joseph II of Hungary suffered from a troublesome stomach ache, for which the emperor’s court physician, Dr. Zwack, developed a remedy. After tasting the medicine, the emperor declared: “das ist ein Unikum!” (“This is unique”). New liqueur was born, which was named Unicum.…
Underberg is a German bitter that has been produced since 1846. It is produced by the family company Underberg AG, in Rheinberg, Germany. Herbs are gathered from a total of 43 different countries around the world. The drink is packaged in 2 cl bottles, the design of which was developed by…
Boonekamp is an old Dutch digestive bitter. It is usually sold in small 2cl mini bottles and is consumed over a heavy meal to improve digestion. The ingredients are at least anise, coriander seeds, cinnamon and star anise. There are between 39 and 52 herbs, roots, spices and flowers used in…
Alcohol has been produced in the Lithuanian manor of Pakruojis since the 17th century. However, production was on a long hiatus until the distillery was reopened in 2018. The distillery in the small village of Pakruojis in northern Lithuania is one of the few craft distilleries in Lithuania. They still have…
Riga Black Balsam is the pride of Latvians and one of the most famous alcoholic beverages in the Baltics. Just no tourist can avoid running into it when visiting Riga, so well it is displayed in grocery stores, souvenir shops and tax-free shops at the airport. The history of Black Balsam…
Gammel Dansk is originally Danish digestive bitter, but nowadays produced in Norway. It was developed in 1964 at Roskilde by Danish Distillers to compete for Jägermeister and other bitters imported from abroad. Gammel Dansk is produced from 29 herbs, spices, berries and flowers. The recipe is naturally a secret but it…
Bozoline is a Lithuanian herbal bitter. It is produced by Alita, Lithuanian wine house. It was established in 1963, as a state-owned wine company to produce wine from fruits and berries. The company was privatized in 1995 and after that have enlarged its action to sparkling wines, brandy and other spirits.…
Belorusskij Balsam is a digestive bitter produced by Belarussian company Minsk Kristal. It has been made by 22 different herbs, roots, flowers, leaves and fruits. Among them - infusions of cinnamon, ginger, cloves, pine buds and linden flowers. These natural ingredients are being told to have a toning and strengthening effect…