Paula Pumpernickel Salted Caramel Liqueur

Salted Caramel Liqueur adds a pinch of sea salt to caramel

Paula Pumpernickel Salted Caramel Liqueur by Sasse is a cream liqueur with 17% ABV where caramel meets sea salt. Sweet, salty, creamy – a combination you try once and keep forever.

Paula Pumpernickel Salted Caramel Liqueur is the sweet and salty one of the three cream liqueurs that the Sasse fine distillery in Schöppingen has been producing since 2021 with Münsterland gourmet blogger Paula Pumpernickel: caramel and toffee meet a pinch of sea salt, blended into a 17% ABV liqueur in a 700-milliliter bottle.

It sits light brown and calm in the glass, and its aroma doesn't take any detours: burnt sugar, butter caramel, and behind that, something you only recognize on the second sniff—salt. It is precisely this something that makes the difference between sweet and interesting.

Caramel, toffee, and a pinch of sea salt

On the palate, the Salted Caramel Liqueur reveals intense notes of caramel and toffee—and then the salt arrives.

Sweet, salty, creamy layers unfold one after another, and that is the real art: the sea salt comes in late, highlighting the sweetness while simultaneously cutting through it. This is why this liqueur doesn't become cloying, even though it could have. At 17% ABV, it remains a companion for a long evening.

Over ice cream, on steak, in a coffee cup

The Salted Caramel Liqueur is best enjoyed chilled, straight, or poured over vanilla ice cream—that is where it plays its strongest card.

And then there is the matter of the grill: Salted caramel has a surprising fan base among men at the grill—after the steak, when the coals are still glowing, the salty edge pairs better with the smoke than you might think. When the evening draws out, that is its time to shine at the grill.

In coffee, it replaces sugar and cream in one step; over waffles or pancakes, it becomes a syrup with character. The sisters in the range are the Herrencreme (gentleman's cream) and the Milk Coffee—all three are part of the Paula Pumpernickel family.

Two opposites from the Münsterland

Since 2021, the Sasse fine distillery has been collaborating with Paula Pumpernickel, a blogger who has been collecting and introducing the specialties of her region for years—this cooperation has resulted in three cream liqueurs.

Bringing salt and caramel together sounds natural today, but in a liqueur, it is tricky: too little salt and it remains just a sweet cream, too much and it tips over. The point between them is narrow—at Sasse, they hit it just right.

The principle behind it is old and comes from Brittany, where salted butter belongs to caramel just as the sea belongs to the coast. Salt doesn't weaken sweetness; it makes it more distinct—the same realization that makes every good chocolate cake better with a pinch in the batter.

It is distilled in Schöppingen, where a distillery has stood since 1707 and Rüdiger Sasse leads the house in the 15th generation. At the World Spirits Award in 2025, the distillery was named a "World-Class Distillery," the only Korn distillery in Germany to receive this honor—one of 18 worldwide. That the same address makes a salted caramel for a barbecue evening is part of their self-image: they call it constantly reinventing Korn there.

When chilled, the salt emerges from the sweetness

The Salted Caramel Liqueur belongs in the refrigerator—at 6 to 8 degrees, the salt note emerges clearly; when warm, it is masked by the sweetness. Give it a quick shake before pouring. Over vanilla ice cream, in an espresso, or neat after grilling. Once opened, it keeps for a few weeks when refrigerated, just like any cream liqueur.