Alma Norte Hanseatic Spiced Spirit

Alma Norte Hanseatic Spiced Spirit from Piekfeine Brände in Bremen

Alma Norte Hanseatic Spiced Spirit from Piekfeine Brände is a spiced spirit based on their house-made Alma Norte rum, the first rum ever distilled in Bremen. Tonka bean, vanilla, orange zest, and dried peach make it the perfect drink for cold evenings.

Alma Norte Hanseatic Spiced Spirit is the spiced spiced rum from Piekfeine Brände in Bremen, created by Birgitta Schulze van Loon. It is based on their own Alma Norte Oro, a wood-aged Hanseatic rum – the spirit is bottled at 38% ABV in a 500 ml bottle.

Tonka, vanilla, and dried fruit

What you notice first is a warm sweetness from tonka bean and vanilla, followed by orange zest and dried peach.

The rum underneath provides oak spice and a hint of caramel, giving the whole profile structure. The spirit is spicy, fruity, velvety, and warms you as you drink it, long before anything has been heated up.

The aromas come from the ingredients themselves, not from additives. Dried fruit tastes different from fruit flavoring because the sugar and acid intensify during the drying process – and that is exactly what gives this spirit its depth.

The tonka bean plays the secret lead role. Its fragrance combines vanilla, almond, and hay, carrying an aroma that layers over everything else without obscuring it. There is only a tiny amount in 500 ml, and adding more would not be permitted anyway.

As a grog, in a long drink, or neat with orange

For a grog, add about 4 cl to 200 ml of hot water or black tea; you don't need anything else, and adding more wouldn't be wise.

In the north, this replaces any mulled wine, and for those who like it cold, pour it over cola and squeeze in a lemon wedge. It also works perfectly neat on ice with a wide orange zest, as this brings out the tonka and vanilla more clearly. The spirit pairs well with winter flavors: baked apples, gingerbread, and dark chocolate.

In a bar, it works as a base wherever you would normally use any generic spiced rum, only this one brings more of its own fruitiness to the table. If you prefer something fruity and floral, try the Rosalie Apero; if you like it clear and grainy, go for the Piekfeiner Korn.

The first rum from the Hanseatic city

The Hanseatics have always drunk rum, but they never distilled it themselves – for centuries, German rum was an imported commodity that was merely blended locally.

Bremen thrived on overseas trade for centuries, and rum was one of the goods that arrived in the port. The fact that it is now also produced there closes a circle that remained open for a long time.

This is due to the raw material: sugar cane does not grow in Europe. For the Alma Norte, selected molasses from Guatemala is imported, fermented in Bremen using a proprietary process, and distilled in a classic pot still. Alma Norte means "Soul of the North," and it is the foundation of this spirit.

The rum derives its color from three different types of casks: rum barrels from Martinique, Amarone red wine barrels, and bourbon barrels, which are then blended together. The distiller deliberately avoids blending with neutral alcohol, as well as adding sugar, flavorings, or coloring.

In this way, a spiced rum is created in Bremen that is neither bought in from the Caribbean nor merely bottled here, says Birgitta Schulze van Loon about her rum project. To see what else is produced in the glass distillery, take a look at Piekfeine Brände.