No 195 Ukrainian rowanberry - Brandy

The red, bitter-tasting fruits of the mountain ash, also known as rowan berries, are traditionally considered poisonous, but this must be considered an exaggeration. Their raw fruits are not very edible due to the parasorbic acid, which is also responsible for the bitterness, and can cause digestive problems. When cooked, the parasorbic acid hydrolyzes to form sorbic acid, a well-known and well-tolerated preservative in food.

Consequently, the use of cooked berries for jams or as puree has just as long a tradition as distilling them into delicious brandies. Botanically speaking, it is not actually a berry, but an apple fruit (i.e. pome fruit), which is easy to see if you take a closer look at the small red fruits as a whole and in cross-section.

The name of the rowan is not derived from the wild boar - "boar" goes back to "but" in the sense of "false", so it is a "false ash tree", because its leaves resemble those of the ash tree. It is widespread throughout Europe and tolerates the harsh climate of the low mountain ranges perfectly. Our organic rowan berries were collected wild in the Ukrainian Carpathians, also known as the "Forest Carpathians".

We have made a wonderful brandy from them "by maceration and distillation" from five parts fruit and one part alcohol. Among other things, fruit acids are important for the aroma, as are essential oils, which come to the fore in our brandy through the typical, delicate marzipan notes and accompanied by light chocolate notes in the finish.

A must for pure enjoyment!