Underberg is a digestif bitter

Bitters

A bitters is an alcoholic beverage that is flavored with herbal essences and has a bitter or bittersweet flavor. There are numerous brands of bitters that were formerly marketed as patent medicines but are now considered to be digestifs, rather than medicines...

 produced in Germany by Underberg AG, made of aromatic herbs from 43 countries. The exact number and identity of the herbs remain a well-guarded secret.

History

It is based on a secret and proprietary recipe, guarded by the Underberg family since the company was founded by Hubert Underberg-Albrecht in 1846. The herbs are distilled

Distillation

Distillation is a method of separating mixtures based on differences in volatilities of components in a boiling liquid mixture. Distillation is a unit operation, or a physical separation process, and not a chemical reaction....

 using a secret process denominated semper idem (or "always the same"). The extracts are then matured for many months in barrels made of Slovenia

Slovenia

Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...

n oak

Oak

An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...

.

Production ceased in 1939 due to lack of raw materials, only to be restarted in December 1949. The drink is usually associated with its famous portion-sized 20 ml

Litre

pic|200px|right|thumb|One litre is equivalent to this cubeEach side is 10 cm1 litre water = 1 kilogram water The litre is a metric system unit of volume equal to 1 cubic decimetre , to 1,000 cubic centimetres , and to 1/1,000 cubic metre...

 bottle, designed in 1949 by Emil Underberg, grandson of the founder. The mini-bottle is protected by a straw paper sleeve and the embossed Underberg label is glued on. All of its elements, including shape of the bottle, colour, packaging and the Underberg name are trade marked and copyright

Copyright

Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...

ed. The company has successfully defended its rights in over 1,200 court cases against other manufacturers.

External links

• Underberg official site