Hapsburg was the one of the first Absinthes to appear in UK around 10 years ago.

#1 into the UK was Hills from Czech Republic, then Hapsburg, then Sebor (from Czech) then Trenet from France (also ours), and then a flood of others …Our 1st entry was the ‘Traditional’ at 72.5% vol (slightly stronger than Hills at 70% vol).

We wondered if strength made a difference, so we introduced Hapsburg Super de-luxe at 85% and it sold out almost overnight, so then we decided to go to the limit of with the Gold label premium Reserve 89.9% vol., which also did really well, and to this day, is the #2 best selling absinthe in our range !

We were then asked for a red absinthe, and having seen and tasted some really GHASTLY stuff from Spain … We were quite concerned as to whether this had ruined the market before we arrived ? But we took the chance and produced Red Hapsburg 69 at 69% vol.

We noticed that Barmen always took up the red absinthe, when offered the range , and then mixed exciting coloured drinks with it, so we changed its name from Hapsburg 69, instead to Hapsburg Absinthe for Cocktails.

We then started getting asked for a black absinthe, and so we obliged. It seemed to appeal to the Goths and Emos and the darker side of life !

We now have 5 in the range and the likely next brand extension will be to produce a natural absinthe with no colourings at all. Actually we thought it would look like a clear spirit like gin or vodka, but due to the macerated herbs, it has a subtle pale greenish yellow hue, almost like a limoncello that has lost its colour in the sunshine. We’re still thinking on this one, and if we produce it, at what strength ? We’ll willingly take your suggestions into account ?

What we do NOT claim is that Hapsburg is the most similar absinthe to those of the late nineteenth century! Actually no one knows what this might be. There are old bottles (indeed I have one), but over the course of a century, what’s inside the bottle changes. Actually we do think that Hapsburg is possibly one of the best Absinthes in the world… (of course it’s a matter of taste). You decide!

Harrods of Knightsbridge are quite fussy, and they stock it and sell it…

We don’t bang on about Van Gogh and the Parisian Rive Gauche etc … we’ll leave dreaming about ‘the olden days’ to the other brands. Hapsburg is about being cool and looking & feeling good. It’s about living on the edge … being an individualist… doing your own thing …

One guy wrote on facebook, “ I drank Hapsburg & met God !” … we don’t make any promises, but we do like to hear from you what you think about Hapsburg. Above all, there ARE no rules…

Please feel free to use the video on your site if you wish, see the video or to contact people with … people often tell us that they quite like it !

This entry was posted on Monday, March 22nd, 2010 at 11:25 am and is filed under Absinthe. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.