Reisetbauer: Drink Your Fruit (and Vegetables!)

2/8/14 -

Over the past 20 years Hans Reisetbauer has risen to the forefront of Eau-de-Vie distillation.  (Eau-de-Vie, meaning “water of life” is the evocative French name for fruit brandies.)  In Austria there is also a proud tradition of making these spirits, but one would be more likely to hear them called by their Germanic name: Schnaps.  Americans spell Schnaps with an extra p, and many have bad memories of over-indulgence in their early drinking careers of the peach or peppermint flavored varieties, but these could not be more different than Reisetbauer’s creations.  Hans is on a mission to maintain purity and concentration in his products, and to create spirits that have a remarkable resemblance to the fruits they are distilled from.  He has the benefit of having inherited an 18 hectare family farm, which he has planted to orchards of apple and pear.  The advantage of having estate fruit is that Hans can pick, by hand, immediately instead of waiting for shipments from Spain or elsewhere. 

Making Brandy to Hans’ specifications is a complicated and costly task.  First, you must start with tons and tons of fruit, literally – it can take up to 90 pounds of fruit to produce one liter of alcohol.  Hans adds nothing to his distillates – no artificial flavors or sugar. The fruit is crushed quickly and distilled in copper pot stills specially designed by Hans and German still-making legend Christian Carl of CARL brand craft stills.  Hans retains a very small “cut” (the middle part of the liquid that comes off of the still) and throws out the “heads” and the “tails” (these are the first and last of what comes off of the still, and often contain volatile compounds and ethyl alcohols — at most distilleries heads and tails are re-distilled and blended into the final spirit as a cost saving measure.)  After the second distillation, the spirit is a robust 80-85% alcohol.  In order to make them more palatable, the brandy ages for several years in tanks with the gradual addition of local, spring water with a high PH level that contributes to the lushness of the Schnaps.  At the end of this process, the Schnaps are about 42% alcohol and bursting with fresh fruit flavor.  We don’t use hyperbole often, but these are the best spirits of their genre and a must-try.  JR