Bessengever, anyone?

December 19, 2008 7:04 PM

Where can I buy bessengenever?

My dad's about to run out, and even our local "we have everything" wine and spirits provider here in the Midwest doesn't carry it. Anyone?? Need to find a place that would ship to the US, and if there's a higher end version (?), I'd like to get the ol' man the best possible.

posted by Arch1 to food & drink (11 comments total)

I surfed the web but couldn't find a bottle of bessengenever in the US. (It may not be imported here.) Is a buying expedition to Holland out of the question?

Along the way, I found the variants bessenjenever, bessen jenever, and blackcurrant gin.

You could just make your own, according to this recipe, if you could get hold of some blackcurrants. Unfortunately, they're a European crop. (Although they were once popular in the US, they were banned in the early 1900s and only in the past few years have farmers begun planting them again.) You might try making it with blackcurrant syrup.

And then, of course, there is Creme de cassis, a blackcurrent liqueur imported into the US from France. It isn't the real thing, but might it be close enough?
posted by exphysicist345 at 10:44 PM on December 19, 2008

You can order it here. Shipping will cost you quite a bit, though, and they won't be processing orders until January 4th, since they're apparently on Christmas vacation.
posted by col_pogo at 11:02 PM on December 19, 2008

Scratch that. exphysicist345 is right. You apparently can't ship alcohol to the US. Any friends flying in from Europe in the near future? You could just order it, ship it to them, and have them bring it in their carry-on.
posted by col_pogo at 11:05 PM on December 19, 2008

I tried bessengenever in Amsterdam---thinking that my liking for blackcurrant would outweigh my distaste for regular gin. Didn't work; I could still taste the juniper. Creme de cassis is a liqueur, so it won't work as a substitute.
posted by brujita at 12:22 AM on December 20, 2008

(Just as an aside to col_pogo's suggestion:
"Any friends flying in from Europe in the near future? You could just order it, ship it to them, and have them bring it in their carry-on."

Sadly, this is not an option. Since 2007, there is a restriction of liquids in carry on luggage in all flights departing from EU airports:
"Liquids carried in cabin baggage must be held in individual containers, with no container exceeding 100ml (approximately 3.5 fl.oz.)." I've seen flight security guys actually prevent people from taking (sealed) wine bottles on the plane...the regulation is enforced quite stringently.

Duty Free stuff is excluded from this regulation, so your friends would have to buy the liquor in the Duty Free Zone to be able to bring it on the plane. I doubt whether they sell this stuff in Duty Free Shops, but I don't know for sure...)
posted by The Toad at 3:29 AM on December 20, 2008

I suppose if you have someone go past Schiphol, they might find a bottle there in the duty free area (in other countries, the chance is indeed small).

True: these days the shops there guarantee that you can carry the bottles on board (or get refunded if someone makes a problem. Which is new. Last year I saw someone in Copenhagen who was forced to dump an entire load of expensive perfumes right from the duty free bag into the trash, no matter how vigorously he waved with the receipt. But Copenhagen is a crazy airport).

As said by others, I'd take this as a challenge for experiments. If you can get the berries, you could just pour vodka on top and wait some time, for example (perhaps you or your dad do like juniper - add some). I'd just fiddle around for a while and stick to the results that turn out best. But I'm not a true bessengenever connoisseur - perhaps this is madness.

And yes, Creme de Cassis is a liqueur. No matter! Can't wait until Monday: I'll buy some, and a bottle of vodka, and mix it 1:10. Mmm, Slightly sweet Vodka-Cassis...
posted by Namlit at 8:45 AM on December 20, 2008

Surely, the Euro-friend could purchase and carefully pack in checked luggage. Anyone? Would this work?
posted by clever sheep at 12:12 PM on December 20, 2008

Are the laws any different for England than they are for the Netherlands? I'm afraid I don't know a thing about importing liquor, but this makes it look like there are English distillers making blackcurrant gin too.
posted by nebulawindphone at 8:40 PM on December 20, 2008

Clever sheep, I've packed spirits that way ( wrapped in all my shirts) without incident.
posted by brujita at 11:36 PM on December 20, 2008

Here's another (expensive) international seller. Failing that I would suggest phoning or emailing one of the Dutch specialist shops, there are quite a few in the midwest, especially in Michigan. They may not stock or import it themselves, but they might be able to refer you.

I haven't tried the Hooghoudt Bessenjenever mentioned in the link, but given the brand I would suspect it is slightly bitter/tangy, more like regular jenever. I might be wrong. Coebergh, in any case, is fruity, sugary and still very full-bodied like Merlot. (It's also the staple drink of hard-partying Dutch college girls everywhere, but don't let this discourage your father).

Spelt with a "g" it's just ye olde-timey spelling, presumably used to lend the product some air of authenticity. Anywhere but on the bottle label one would use the modern "jenever". (Oh and not to snark, but the page title says basically "berry giver", which sounds awesome in its own right though).

Come to think of it, I'm all but certain you should be able to find a specialist/quality liquor store in the Twin Cities area that will be able to meet your request. I wouldn't be able to guess the cost or shipping time, however.

Good luck and cheers!
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 3:28 AM on December 21, 2008

Also a very nice treat is Appeljenever, which is mostly sold in Belgium. The way I was introduced to it was last year on the Christmas market in Antwerpen. It was very cold back then, people where ice-skating and one of the kiosks was selling hot apple-jenever in small shot-glasses.

Heaven! ;)

A quick search on Das web tells me that Berentzen makes one of the best apple-jenevers. And Passiejenever should also be a nice find.
posted by marcelm at 10:33 AM on December 21, 2008