Where to buy Absinthe in Hamburg

Hi All,

Have a guest staying with me RAF bloke and he would like to buy some Absinthe. Is it available here in Hamburg?

Cheers.

There's two very good options, one is Zaubertrank at Brennerstraße 20 (St. Georg).
The owner is a Shaman who produces everything he sells himself. He is quite a character, the shop is unique and very interesting.
If you go there for the first time, bring some time, because before he sells you anything, he will (hmm, how do I put it) "introduce you to his philosophy".
It helps if you read the "Einleitung English" on his website


If you're open minded, you will like the shop, it is quite an experience.

The other one is much more "neat", it's Destille at Hermannstraße 1 Minute from Rathausmarkt (town hall square).
I buy there a lot as it's only 1 Minute from my office. They have lovely stuff and you can try it before you buy it. I just bought Absinthe there a week ago.
The owners are very nice, always up for a chat.
Oh, and they do Whiskey tastings

In both shops you can buy different size bottles and have them filled, so you decide how much you want to spend...

Here's a pic of the Destille:

Just out of curiosity, are these types of Absinthe made with Wormwood. (illegal in america so i would love to try it)

My corner liquer shope has it here in SF, so maybe illegal in parts of America but not here..

Thanks again Hammonia...your knowledge is invaluable on this site.

Shall check out the Destille shop tomorrow. Are they the same as the shop in Blankanese?

Cheers,
Stephanie

The version with wormwood is illegal. It can only be bought in Poland to my knowledge and cannot be brought back into the country. In my area they sale it in the little drink store, but it is a alcohol not a hallucinogen.

@Steph
Thanks
I don't know if it's the same, on their website there's only two shops in Hamburg, one in city centre, the other in Norderstedt, but it's a franchise, maybe they opened another one and the website istn't up to date.
Try the Bratapfel-Likör, it smells heavenly, and also tastes lovely (sweet of course, but very Christmasy, like roast apple, cinnamon, clove hmmmm).
Mat doesn't like to drink it, but won't keep his big nose out of it
They also have very good Whisky, if your hubby is into the peaty stuff, try the Islay.

@Ryan
If you go to Zaubertrank, I think he sells the real stuff, if you ask for it. But of course that real stuff is not for drinking - that would be illegal. It's only for use in rituals!!!
That's why you have to read his introduction first...

Are you sure the brands at Destille don't include wormwood? They look like the brands I've bought elsewhere that do contain it.

And you can get absinthe legally in the US. You may import a bottle at a time "for personal use" but you can't resell it. I'm told the French brands are the best, and the Czech brands are unpleasant. Anything's better than the homemade I've had. ::shudder::

Don't know about the stuff at Destille. I bought something from their open range, chose a funny bottle, for a friend's birthday, have seen that they also sell other stuff which is already bottled (one brand I seem to remember was "Grüne Fee").

What I do know is that the stuff sold at Zaubertrank is all home-brewed, and this guy has a hell of knowlegde about his stuff. He had problems with the authorities for many years as they were not happy with some of the stuff he is selling, but finally they could not do anything against it as he is only selling it for rituals and not for drinking or using on the body, so certain things you can buy in his shop (e.g. containing thorn apple and the likes), but he would sell it at his bar for direct consumption.

Nuff said I guess.

edit: oh, and btw, Hans-Georg from Zaubertrank speaks decent English, so even if your German isn't good, you can still have a chat with him about special requirements. As far as I remember he sells different kinds of Absinthe, e.g. mead with Absinthe

Just cross the border to the Czech Republic, loads of absinte varieties available, and most of it is pretty code (AND CHEAP!)

Thanks for the tip.

Unfortunately, we are little bit further away from Czech Republic than you in Berlin.

Well my step-son was able to get the bottle he wanted from the shop and brought me back a bottle of the lovely Bratapfel-Likör you suggested. I had a nip last night and it was lovely.

Thanks again for you help Hammonia

Pleasure

Glad you like the Bratapfel Likör.

I'm thinking about using it for making an apple cake with crumble, think that would work well. sorry, OT

I think that sounds really yummy. Let me know how it turns out.