Raspberry syrup from hand-picked Willamette raspberries
Alpe Pragas raspberry syrup is a South Tyrolean fruit syrup made from aromatic summer Willamette raspberries, boiled down with 50% fruit content. This is not perfumed sugar water, but real raspberry flavor that can be diluted 1:7 with water, sparkling wine, or Prosecco for a refreshing drink.
Raspberry syrup from Alpe Pragas is a densely reduced fruit syrup from their own fields in the Dolomites, made from hand-picked Willamette raspberries. Stefan Gruber fills the 500 ml bottle with 50% fruit, adding only sugar and a splash of lemon. The Willamette is considered one of the most aromatic summer raspberries, and you will notice it immediately.
Deep red, fruity, with a fine acidity
In the glass, the syrup glows deep red and smells of ripe raspberries—sweet and a little wild.
Once diluted, the full berry aroma unfolds: fruity, dense, and with that fine acidity that real raspberries possess. The syrup prefers to be served cool, which is when it shows itself most clearly—fresh, berry-like, and lively. The Willamette brings more fragrance than more robust cultivated varieties, and you can still taste it long after the glass is empty.
A tablespoon is enough to make a whole glass of water glow and taste like summer. That is how intense the fruit is.
The Willamette variety was once chosen for its aroma and is considered by connoisseurs to be one of the most fragrant raspberries of all. In the fields of the Dolomites, it ripens slowly in the mountain sun, which gives it depth instead of mere sweetness.
In a raspberry mojito and lemonade
Mixed in a 1:7 ratio with ice-cold mineral water, it becomes a clear raspberry lemonade; with Prosecco, it makes a summery aperitif.
It shines in a raspberry mojito with lime, rum, and fresh mint, and drizzled over vanilla ice cream, rice pudding, or quark, it makes any dessert summery. The raspberry also pairs better with savory dishes than you might think; a spoonful in a sauce for wild poultry or duck breast adds a fruity depth.
If you prefer something herbal, the mountain mint syrup is also available; the entire selection can be found under the Alpe Pragas syrups. Once opened and stored in the refrigerator, it stays fresh for weeks.
A spoonful over a chocolate cake or in muffin batter adds a fruity freshness to pastries, and in winter, a glass of warm raspberry juice is a reminder of the past summer.
Own fields in the Prags Valley
In 1997, Stefan Gruber founded the manufactory in the Prags Valley, at an altitude of about 1250 meters in the Dolomites, and he still grows the raspberries in his own fields today. What began as tinkering with strawberries on his parents' farm has become a small fruit manufactory with its own cultivation.
50% fruit content means you taste raspberry instead of flavoring and need less syrup per glass. Gruber consciously avoids artificial colors and flavorings; what the berry brings with it is plenty for him.
Picked ripe and gently boiled down, the syrup is vegan and gluten-free. Bringing the fruit taste from the field directly into the bottle is Gruber’s standard, and he succeeds. You can find more South Tyrolean specialties in the Alpe Pragas assortment.
Rum, lime, and crushed ice
Place crushed ice into two glasses. Stir in three centiliters of raspberry syrup, three centiliters of lime juice, and five centiliters of white rum each, add a few fresh raspberries and a sprig of mint, and top up with cold mineral water.
Drizzled over a cheesecake or as a fruity layer in a dessert with mascarpone and ladyfingers, the syrup shows another side, where the acidity of the berry pleasantly breaks up the sweetness of the cream. In its square glass bottle, it also makes a lovely little gift.
Without the rum, it becomes a non-alcoholic raspberry lemonade for a hot afternoon. Serve well-chilled, as that is when the raspberry is at its most lively. Simply delicious.
