Batralzem

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Drawing of wormwood
Wormwood
Wild wormwood, here in Austria
The finished Batralzem

Batralzem is a Wermuth protean spirit that as a regional specialty in the southern Eifel mostly as liqueur is drunk.

Geographical origin

The drink is mainly produced in the Bitburg , Speicher and Kyllburg areas, both commercially and privately. It is often nicknamed Bitburger Batralzem to refer to its local origin. At the traditional event Gäßestrepper baptism in the district town of Bitburg, a Batralzem is part of the ritual.

In Luxembourg , Batralzem is also produced locally in the Islek . Depending on the dialect, it is also called Batteralzem, Batternalzem, Battralzem , Battralsem or Baltrazem . In the Wittlich area he is also colloquially referred to as "blind person". The origin of this slang term is unknown.

The southern Eifel offers wormwood with sunny, sometimes rocky and dry locations, good growth conditions. It is also increasingly being grown again in Eifel farm and rock gardens .

Word origin

The name is probably a combination of the Moselle Franconian word batter for bitter with the root word Alzem of the plant genus Artemisia, which is the basis for the production. According to another interpretation, Batralzem is the dialect version of bitter balsam .

Manufacturing

It is based on wormwood ( Artemisia absinthium L. ), which, however, is not mashed , fermented and distilled due to the low fructose content . Instead, come grain distillate and occasionally fires of pome fruit for use based on wormwood placed be. With privately produced Batralzem, depending on the recipe, other herbs, essences or spices such as cinnamon sticks or rock candy can be added to the recipe to improve the rather unconventional taste.

nature

The alcohol content of the commercially produced Batralzem is around 35  % by volume, much lower than that of other vermouth-based schnapps such as absinthe . In the case of the recipes produced in private households, the alcohol content can be higher. Batralzem usually has a light color, blending into amber, and a characteristic bitter odor. Like most wormwood-based products, the drink has a positive effect on the digestive tract . Therefore, Batralzem is mainly recommended as a digestif .

taste

The aromas from the wormwood give the drink a distinctive bitter taste with a low degree of sweetness. The author Jacques Berndorf , who lives in the Eifel, describes Batralzem as “a drink that non-Eifel residents can hardly bear”. The author Bernd Imgrund even dedicates the title of the report on the renovation of his house in Kyllburg to the drink.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gäßestrepper-Christening in the Bitburg pedestrian zone. Trierian friend of the people . (No longer available online.) September 3, 2016, archived from the original on October 10, 2017 ; accessed on October 6, 2017 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / lifestyle.volksfreund.de
  2. ^ The ballad of John from the Islek. Jacques Berndorf's website. Retrieved October 6, 2017 .
  3. ↑ Bernd Imgrund: My house in the Eifel - From the townspeople who moved out to drink Batralzem , ISBN 3-95441-327-2 .

See also

swell