There is almost nothing closer to our hearts than leaving an intact world for the next generation. That's why we've been working with passionate, certified organic practices for what feels like forever, why we choose electric mobility over an impressive fleet of vehicles, and why we run on green electricity. But we do so much more — and this "more" is not only good for the environment, it's also good for the palate. We practise upcycling.
Classic recycling is already a wonderful thing in itself. Waste glass is collected, cleaned, and turned back into glass. Old bottles become new ones. This works with certain materials and is a concept we're quite familiar with. Still, it wasn't enough for us. We are craft distillers. That means we refine fruit and grain. Pears become a delicate pear brandy; grain becomes a robust whisky.
So we thought: if we're already professionals at refining things, why not get the very best out of what others would throw away? And not just in the still. If we're going to do it, let's do it throughout the entire distillery and the orchards too. Pomace and grain stillage left over from the distilling process serve as animal feed, and when ash accumulates, the fruit trees benefit from it. We call it upcycling, because at the end of the cycle a clear and tangible added value is created.
We introduced our favourite upcycling project last week at Kruste und Krume: "day-old bread" is a sensitive topic for bakers and mindful consumers alike. Producing exactly the right amount of bread and rolls is a genuine challenge — because there can never be too little. So there is always (and we do mean always, every single day) a considerable amount of bread and pastries left over that typically gets disposed of somehow. Every now and then, photos of this surface, and those photos are painful to see.
So we came up with something truly special. For many years we have been collaborating with Bavarian organic baker Nikodemus Gottschaller for this project. He is a trained farmer (with a deep respect for food) and a pioneer of the organic baking community in Bavaria. The leftover bread is collected, mashed by us, and distilled into Brotschnaps. It comes in two varieties: Black and White. The Bread Spirit White is the one that — depending on your perspective — smells either like a French baguette or a crispy Kaisersemmel. The black variety, Bread Spirit Black, on the other hand, carries the scent of coriander, wholegrain bread, and caraway. Lots of caraway. On 10 March 2018, we unveiled both distillates at the Brotfestival Kruste & Krume. The response was tremendous.
It all starts with a product that nobody quite knows what to do with. Stale bread. And it ends as a crystal-clear, true-to-type, and exceptionally delicious fruit brandy that delights both the heart and the palate. That is exactly how upcycling should work. Exactly how we want it to be.
