The Stroh Austria GmbH is a manufacturer of strong spiced rum

Rum

Rum is a distilled alcoholic beverage made from sugarcane by-products such as molasses, or directly from sugarcane juice, by a process of fermentation and distillation. The distillate, a clear liquid, is then usually aged in oak barrels...

 from Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

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History

The brand started in 1832 at Klagenfurt

Klagenfurt

-Name:Carinthia's eminent linguists Primus Lessiak and Eberhard Kranzmayer assumed that the city's name, which literally translates as "ford of lament" or "ford of complaints", had something to do with the superstitious thought that fateful fairies or demons tend to live around treacherous waters...

, named after the founder Sebastian Stroh. It was awarded a gold medal at the 1900 Exposition Universelle

Exposition Universelle (1900)

The Exposition Universelle of 1900 was a world's fair held in Paris, France, from April 15 to November 12, 1900, to celebrate the achievements of the past century and to accelerate development into the next...

 in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

. Today Stroh is available in 30 countries. The overproof versions are seldom drunk neat, but used for the concoction of Jagertee

Jagertee

Jagertee is an alcoholic beverage made by mixing overproof rum with black tea. It is served warm and is typically consumed during winter in the cold parts of Central Europe....

, of punch

Punch (drink)

Punch is the term for a wide assortment of drinks, both non-alcoholic and alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice. The drink was introduced from India to England in the early seventeenth century; from there its use spread to other countries...

 (especially the Feuerzangenbowle

Feuerzangenbowle

is a traditional German alcoholic drink for which a rum-soaked sugarloaf is set on fire and drips into mulled wine. It is often part of a Christmas or New Year's Eve tradition. The name translates literally to fire-tongs punch....

variation) or a Flaming B-52 cocktail

B-52 (cocktail)

The B-52 is a layered shot composed of a coffee liqueur , an Irish Cream , and an orange cognac . When prepared properly, the ingredients separate into three distinctly visible layers...

. Stroh is also an important ingredient for cakes and pastries of the Austrian cuisine.

As the state of Austria–Hungary had no access to colonies in tropical regions, rum producers originally tried to replace the sugarcane

Sugarcane

Sugarcane refers to any of six to 37 species of tall perennial grasses of the genus Saccharum . Native to the warm temperate to tropical regions of South Asia, they have stout, jointed, fibrous stalks that are rich in sugar, and measure two to six metres tall...

 molasses aroma by a mixture of flavourants and dyes added to a diluted ethanol basis, referred to as Inländer-Rum ("domestic rum"), a substitute that over the years became a speciality. Today Austrian rum is made from sugarcane by-products according to European Community regulations, while the typical Inländer flavour is provided by traditional essences. The production is standardised by chapter B23 of the Codex Alimentarius Austriacus

Codex Alimentarius Austriacus

In the Austrian-Hungarian Empire between 1897 and 1911, a collection of standards and product descriptions for a wide variety of foods was developed as the Codex Alimentarius Austriacus...

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Products

The rum is available in four variants, Stroh 40, Stroh 54, Stroh 60 and Stroh 80. The number represents the Volume percent of the Alcohol by volume

Alcohol by volume

Alcohol by volume is a standard measure of how much alcohol is contained in an alcoholic beverage .The ABV standard is used worldwide....

, in other words, 80, 108, 120 and 160 proof

Proof (alcohol)

Alcohol proof is a measure of how much alcohol is contained in an alcoholic beverage. The term was originally used in the United Kingdom and was defined as 7/4 times the alcohol by volume . The UK now uses the abv standard instead of alcohol proof. In the United States, alcoholic proof is defined...

(US) respectively. Ready-made Jagertee (80 and 120 proof) and Punch mixtures are also offered.