Hard Travelin – Ortenburger Pomeranze
One thing I love about travel is that you discover new products. In this case, I probably would never have discovered this bitter orange liqueur, if I didn’t visit a small shop in Passau, Germany. Of course, there are a lot of orange liqueurs out there. Yet, this one felt special and I can say that it is well worth checking it out.
The Braun Distillery produces the “Ortenburer Pomeranze” liqueur since 2005. They created it to celebrate the discovery of a historic orangery at the Ortenburg castle. After getting the recipe for a bitter orange liqueur from the editor of a magazine for German eau de vie producers, the Brauns set to work. However, the final recipe also included an eau de vie from the South Italian organic bitter oranges. Apart from that, I was also able to try their 40 Drugs Gin. As the name already suggests, the gin uses 40 different botanicals. You can find my tasting notes of the gin below.
Multiplex layers of bitter oranges
The “Ortenburger Pomeranze” delivers what you expect, a lot of different layers of bitter orange flavours. You can taste the whole fruit, from the essential oils of the peel, over a bit of white pith to the bitter and very concentrated fruit flesh. However, you can also taste some floral notes in the form of roses as well as some herbs and spices. I even associated the bouquet of the liqueur with a bit of tobacco.
An Espresso Martini
Since, one suggested pairing for the bitter orange liqueur was coffee, I thought I would give an Espresso Martini variation a try. Yet, instead of vodka I used the Minor Case Rye. Furthermore, I also replaced the espresso with the same amount of cold drip coffee essence.
1,5 cl Braun Ortenburger Bitter Orange Liqueur
3 cl Hoos Cold Drip Liqueur
3 cl Cold Drip Coffee Essence
Garnish: Orange Twist;
Song: Mandolin Orange – Hard Travelin’;
The “Hard Travelin’” starts with an intriguing combination of whiskey, coffee and orange notes. The sweetness of the two liqueurs nicely balances out the acidity of the cold drip coffee essence. Obviously, the rye with its grain and caramel notes works perfectly with the roasted flavours. In the end, you can even detect the slightest with of cacao.
*The fact that I received a product reviewed in this article for free, did not – in any way – influence the rating of said product. The liqueur and the gin were provided by the Braun Distillery.
