No 165 German Tulameen Raspberry

Even if the name would have us believe it: the raspberry is not a berry! Perhaps one or the other still remembers the unwieldy term "collective drupe" from biology class. He wants to tell us that the raspberry consists of many small drupes that form from the individual carpels. There are countless varieties of raspberries with red, yellow and black fruit bodies, which are divided into summer and autumn raspberries. Among the former is our Tulameen, a variety born in 1980 in Vancouver, Canada, from the crossing of 'Nootka' and 'Glen Prosen', which we chose because it is very aromatic and tasty. The large, sweet, attractive fruits were harvested extra fresh for us by a farmer in southern Germany towards the end of June 2018 in sufficient quantities that we used them to make a brandy "through maceration and distillation". For this we prepared five parts fruit with one part alcohol and then carefully distilled after the end of the maceration time in order to banish the rheosmine, the so-called raspberry ketone, in our brandy without damaging it. However, it would be a mistake to think that only one substance is responsible for the bombastic flavors of this spirit. The raspberry ketone is the determining one, but just one of well over 200 substances that contribute to the aroma. Enjoy this classic pure, with dessert or as part of a sophisticated cocktail mix!