BLOMENDAHL

The Discription

Alter Schwede is a smooth herb liqueur speciality, with a history dating back to the Thirty Years’ War between the Catholics and Protestants from 1618 to 1648. 

 Alter Schwede contains only the finest quality ingredients with over 200 traditional herbs & spices, which are harvested in Europe, Scandinavia, Asia and Africa. It can take up to a year to harvest and properly prepare certain herbs for final production.

The Origin

The secret recipe for Alter Schwede was bequeathed at the beginning of the 17th century by a Swedish ambassador, Graf Johan Ochsenstierna, who had the duty of negotiating the Peace of Westphalia in Germany. 

Our ancestral home in Sweden street, Osnabrück served as the lodging and meeting place for these negotiations. 

 Once the negotiations ended, the delegation returned to Sweden and the recipe was left behind, only to be discovered during excavations in the 18th century in our ancestral home. 

 Carl Kohlhoff decided to name the liqueur Alter Schwede (Old Swede), in honour of the Swedish ambassador who negotiated the Peace of Westphalia. 

 Alter Schwede has been distilled in Germany by Kohlhoff since 1882 and in 1993 FJ Blomendahl had the honour of continuing the tradition and acquired Kohlhoff. He then founded the Alter Schwede distillery in Germany which has been producing Alter Schwede ever since. 

 Now Alter Schwede is also made in South Africa.