The Mountain Spirit
From the Highest Mountains – From the Deepest Valleys
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Welcome to Himalayan Highlands
Creating a truly novel spirit is a dream that many aspire to fulfil. At Himalayan Highlands, we are proud to announce that we have indeed reached this goal.
The History
Inspired by unmatched childhood experiences
Our beginnings go back to one person’s unusual life story. Our founder, Felix Kugele had the good luck to spend five years of his childhood in rural Nepal, where he learnt to love the land and its people. Though he returned to Germany at the age of eleven, the mountains of his youth always held him captive. When he returned to Nepal as a young adult, he felt at home there like nowhere else. After having travelled around the Nepalese Himalayas extensively for more than ten times, he felt the urge to share the wonders of this fascinating region with others. Having himself observed the adventurous travels of herbs collectors in the high Himalayas, he naturally directed his attention towards Nepal’s botanical treasures. Thus, the idea of a Nepalese-themed liqueur was born.
After experimenting with a variety of different herbs and botanicals for some years, the formulas for two great liqueurs were finally found. In the Summer of 2019 production was started in a small kitchen in Frankfurt and since September of said year the products are finally available.
The Idea
Mountain Liqueur and Valley Liqueur
A new interpretation of herbal treasures
We procure only the very best botanicals from Nepal and employ time-honoured methods of craftmanship to create our very special essences from them.
In our kitchen in Frankfurt we separately steep each single botanical in pure spirits of wine. These spirits hold no aroma of their own, thereby allowing each botanical ingredient to leave its imprint on the resulting extract. Each ingredient in the process is treated individually. While some herbs require a mere two days of steeping, others will need three weeks or even more. After this maceration - as the technical term is called - the resulting extracts are mixed and carefully filtered. Thereafter we add sugar syrup.
At Himalayan Highlands we use relatively little sugar, not much more than is absolutely necessary for liqueur. In the same vein, we also refrain from adding glucose, a type of sugar which is often added for higher viscosity. Nor do we employ clarifying agents, enzymes or similar artificial ingredients. Once the liqueur is bottled and corked, the final product is ready – the world’s first Himalayan liqueur.
Die Liköre
The Liqueurs
Mountain Liqueur, the Adventurer in the Bottle
This spirit combines berries, roots, bark and leaves from the world’s highest slopes. Whether dense forests, rocky alpine pastures or dry mountain steppes – many different biotopes are represented here. All herbs in this liqueur have been collected in the wild, which means that they contain especially pristine, untainted aromas. These plants grow and ripen in nature without any human involvement. The harvest is spectacular in itself. Specialised herb collectors from rural villages often spend many weeks on end camping out in the high mountains, searching for the valuable herbs in wild, challenging country. After collection, the plants are spread out to dry on bamboo mats.
Tastewise, the mountain liqueur is a unique combination of various elements. Thus, one finds deep, earthy notes in harmonious combination with the strongly ethereal fragrance of forest herbs. Complementing this is an almost citrus-like freshness which we find in small forest berries. In the mouth one discerns a hint of bitterness and a dense long finish. Truly a liqueur for special moments.
We recommend drinking this liqueur cooled, as befits its mountainous origins. 10 to 12 degrees centigrade are ideal. These can easily be reached by keeping the bottle in the fridge while using a glass with room temperature and waiting for a moment after pouring. This way the aroma can fully establish itself.
Lowland Liqueur, Tropical Dreams
Our lowland liqueur’s tropical origins are immediately discernible. Here the Himalayas no longer present themselves as wild and unapproachable but rather as fertile, gentle and welcoming. Similarly, our liqueur at first reveals itself with warm, harmonious notes. Then a hint of spiciness, immediately followed by pleasant warmth. A liqueur for relaxing, dreaming and enjoying.
The fruit and spices that predominate among the ingredients partly originate in the wild, where they are collected from high-growing trees in jungle-like woods. Others are grown in a small bio-certified spice farm in a valley of central Nepal.
We recommend drinking this liqueur slightly chilled, ideally at a temperature of 14 to 15 degrees centigrade.
Felix Kugele · Himalayan Highlands
Paquetstraße 46 · 60431 Frankfurt/Main
www.himalayan-highlands.com · info@himalayan-highlands.com