what does Schlehen Geist mean in english?

RolandIRL

hi all, i've got a bottle of some spirit that was bought abroad by a friend, and it's been in the cupboard for a while. i can't for the life of me remember what it is, and there's no English on the label.
the label just says "Moselwappen" then the logo of some berries i think, and then "Schlehen Geist" 40% Vol.
any idea what it means?
thanks

daltonm

whiteman19 wrote: »

hi all, i've got a bottle of some spirit that was bought abroad by a friend, and it's been in the cupboard for a while. i can't for the life of me remember what it is, and there's no English on the label.
the label just says "Moselwappen" then the logo of some berries i think, and then "Schlehen Geist" 40% Vol.
any idea what it means?
thanks

Yes, It's Bavarian and not well known. Geist is naturally, spirit or ghost and schlehen is blackthorns.

I would hazzard a guess ( I lived there for some years) that it is a schnapps.......

Put it in the freezer, freeze shot glasses and enjoy...........

liah

According to the roomful of germans I'm sitting with, it's a sort of schnapps (our version, sweet stuff), and Mosel is some river? Apparently it's close to pure alcohol.

Not that that's very clear, but it's all I've got :eek:

RolandIRL

thanks for quick reply.
i googled for ages without luck

it's probably not going to be drank as i'm a non-drinker but my friend buys drinks abroad just to have them. :rolleyes:
the only reason i ask is cos it's a really awkward bottle in the press with a really long neck so i'll probably give it to someone to use. just wanted to see what it was before giving it away

peasant

Yepp, it's indeed sloe (blackthorn) brandy.

In Germany you'll find all sorts of unusual clear fruit brandys (Schnaps) with in and around 40% alcohol
Himbeer (raspberry) Kirsch (cherry) Zwetschge (a kind of plum) and Birne (pear) are the most common.
But basically any fruit that contains a modicum of sugar can be and has been fermented and made into brandy at some point, some local varietes are made from flowers or roots even.

My favourite would be Mirabellen or Marillenschnaps (a small, yellow kind of plum)

Btw ...these brandys should never be drunk ice cold. They only really show their taste and fine aromas at room temperature.

Especially in southern Germany (where you still find a lot of old orchards) there are many small farmers / orchard owners that hold a private, non-commercial distilling licence who destill all sorts of concoctions for private use and distribution among friends and family.


And then there would be the culture of making "Most" (cider), but that's a different story altogether

John C

Super posts, the best is from Peasant. His account is spot on.

I have attached a picture of a bottle of Schlehengeist.

In German Wikipedia there is an article about the blackthorn.
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schlehen

Blackthorn is also known as sloe. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prunus_spinosa

peasant

Further research shows that the "geist" in the name also points to the method of destillation.

When it's called "geist" the Schnaps wasn't made by destilling fruit mash directly. Because sloes (and other fruits that end up in "geist") don't have enough sugar to give proper fermentation, their mash gets mixed with pure alcohol. This "soup" then is left to sit for a while for the transfer of the aroma and eventually gets destilled into ~40% spirits.

John C

Vorheriges Bild war nur ein Etikette / Aufkleber. My previous picture was only a label.

Hier ist ein Bild einer "Schehengeist " Flasche. Image of a bottle.

Dieser Schnaps wurde von einer Privatbrennerei destilliert. Sie ist
bei Bozen/Bolzano in Südtirol, Italien.
From a small distillery by Bolzano in South Tyrol in Italy

John C

liah wrote: »

...... and Mosel is some river? ................

Above is an edited quote.
"Moselwappen" is a private distillery in the town of Cochem on the river Mosel. A better known town on the Mosel is Trier, a very old Roman town.
The Mosel also flows through France, Luxembourg. It joins the Rhine at Koblenz. On a map of that area it is that twisty left bank tributary of the Rhine. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moselle_River.

Wappen = coat of arms. In this sense Moselwappen is a name chosen by the distillery ownwers.

galah

I know Schlehen as 'Sloeberries' - and shall be making sloeberry schnapps later this season ;-)

(there's so many around, and people just don't seem to pick them!)

RolandIRL

i certainly wasn't expecting this much answers
thanks for all the replies. it's still sitting in our cupboard though. still haven't given it away it'll be heading to my cousins next time i'm there