This past weekend, my boyfriend and I went out on an evening walk to pick up a few things at the corner grocery store. On our walk back home, we decided to pop into this festive German bar we'd seen so many times. At that moment a good German beer sounded like it could possibly turn the whole day around. As we shared a warm pretzel and a towering mug of beer, it began to snow. (This doesn't happen all that often in Seattle.) We settled in for another beer and a new delightful discovery: Underberg.
Underberg comes in a sweet little bottle and is considered a digestif, meant to enjoy after a meal on a full stomach. If you like Fernet-Branca, you'll like Underberg. They're both heavy, herbal liquors that are wonderful for sipping neat or adding into a cocktail to round out the flavor profile. The folks at Underberg claim that the digestif is made from aromatic herbs from 43 countries, a top secret formula they hold dear. The herbs are distilled and then the extracts are aged in barrels made of Slovenian oak. They've been going strong since 1846 (with a brief ten-year break from 1939-1949) and I can see why. The liquor is refreshing and unique and the bottle is sweet and charming.
The bottle of Underberg reads, "not be be sipped, but taken all at once and quickly because of its aromatic strong taste." Quite the contrary: that aromatic, strong taste has become quite trendy these days. We see Fernet-Branca in most of our craft cocktail bars here in the city, and now I'll begin to look for Underberg. Have you tried Underberg?
Related: After-Dinner Tipples: Digestifs
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Reminds me of this epic commercial:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgEwjGZKXVk
brrr....
in Germany Underberg is a digestif, dunken only by very old ladies and bummers.
Even the little Bottles are been drinking by these people, having not enough money to buy a big bottle of corn.
I heard, that Unterberg ist in US a medicine so you need no license, is ist right?
Quite. But I wonder how I'd like it if I didn't think it was for old ladies and alcoholics...
My fiance and a friend tried this once... the looks on their faces were enough to assure me that I never, ever wanted to try Underberg. They both looked incredibly sad and disgusted by what they'd just put in their mouths... my fiance was queasy for an hour afterward, he couldn't get the taste out of his mouth.
On the other hand, we have a friend who really enjoys it, so who knows.
I tried Underberg at an East German restaurant in San Fransisco and found it very refreshing after a heavy meal.
I like Fernet; I do not like Underberg. There is a medicinal element to it -- perhaps because I only drink it as a shot to combat indigestion of a heavy meal -- perhaps because it tastes a little like Vick's vaporub. @miamei 73 Underberg is treated the same way bitters are in NY. They are dispensed both from liquor stores as well as grocery stores.
When we went to visit our German exchange student in his home town, my father noticed a bottle of Underberg in the hotel minibar. He asked Thomas about it. His answer was that it was for when you feel sick or when you want to be sick. I can't help but think of that every time I see Underberg.
Underberg really is only supposed to be taken if you feel you may have the I-ate-and-drank-way-too-much feeling come on (the point of digestifs). You're just supposed to pop it drink it as fast as you can (pour into a shot glass and down it, as the tiny bottle will slow the flow if you pour directly into your mouth). Believe me, you will feel much better in a few minutes. Has a strong anise-aroma to it--nothing to write home about it in that category.
I personally put it in a glass of soda water at the beer/ wine bar when I don't Really feel like drinking- it's refreshing!