What is Beerenburg?
Beerenburg is a Dutch herbal bitter based on jenever. If the herbal bitter is made on the basis of brandy, it may not be called Beerenburg, but only herbal bitter.
The drink is named after the 18th century Amsterdam herbalist Hendrik Beerenburg.
What ingredients are in Beerenburg?
He made a special herbal mixture that could be steeped in jenever or brandy. The composition of the mixture is still a secret.
It probably contains dozens of herbs, including liquorice, sandalwood, gentian root and bay leaf.
Where does Beerenburg come from?
Hendrik Beerenburg sold his herbal mixture not only to distilleries in Amsterdam, but also to passing Frisian skippers, who distilled the drink at home in Friesland.
Frisian distillers soon tried to copy Beerenburg's mixture. Because the name Beerenburg was protected, they gave their herbal bitters a slightly different spelling as Berenburg or Beerenburgh.
To this day, well-known producers of Beerenburg, including Weduwe Joustra (Friesland) and Kalmoes (Groningen), are located in the north of the country.
The Sonnema Berenburg visitor centre can also be found in Bolsward, Friesland. Beerenburg is light to dark brown in color and contains at least 30% alcohol.