Through the Roses – Engel Rose

Even though roses are not considered quite manly, I like their elegant floral flavour. The important thing is that the rose note does not overwhelm the drinking experience. Nevertheless, I want to talk about a rose eau de vie today. Manuel Engel distils a rose spirit from Bulgarian Damaszener roses, and I was looking forward to mixing a fizz style drink with it.

As mentioned above, the rose flavour can be a bit overwhelming when used excessively. However, Manuel created the essence of Bulgarian Damaszener roses in his Naturbrennerei. He distils them twice on his handmade 101 l Austrian still. In the end, the eau de vie is bottled at 42 % ABV.

Roses and a hint of pears

Obviously, the eau de vie has powerful rose notes. You definitely are reminded of a high-quality perfume. Yet, the floral flavour neither overwhelms the sip, nor turns soapy at any point. Instead, you are rewarded by more flower notes, hints of citrus and a distinct apple and pear characteristic. I do not know if I would enjoy more than one small glass in an evening, but I reckon the rose eau de vie is perfect in cocktails.

Low-ABV Fizz

I could have combined the rose eau de vie with gin and I guess the combination would have been awesome. However, I wanted to incorporate the rose flavour in a low-ABV cocktail. Therefore, I used a semi-dry vermouth and also added a bit of rhubarb nectar. Instead of egg white, I used Aqua Faba for adding a foam crown to the drink.

Through the Roses:
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4,5 cl Gölles Semi Dry Vermouth
1,5 cl Engel Rose Eau de Vie
3 cl Lemon Juice
4,5 cl Van Nahmen Rhubarb Nectar
2.25 cl Giffard Gomme Syrup
1,5 cl Aqua Faba
Top off with Soda Water
Shake – add a splash of soda water to a Highball glass – strain – top off with more soda water;
Garnish: Rose Petals;
Song: Future Islands – Through the Roses;

While you notice the rose flavour of the “Through the Roses”, the drink at the same time is not overpowered by the floral notes. Instead, the drink more reminds me of a floral white wine or rosé. The vermouth, which also includes roses, works perfectly with the eau de vie. On top of that, the rhubarb adds some astringent notes which also make the drink more interesting. Nevertheless, the Fizz is well-balanced and this makes it a perfect summer sipper.

*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 eau de vie was provided by the Engel Naturbrennerei.

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