Berliner Luft

Berliner Luft is a clear, minty herbal liqueur that takes its name and identity from the German capital. The brand was first produced in 1928 by the Nordhausen-based distillery Mack & Schühle, although the recipe was reformulated after the Second World War and the drink is now bottled at the original 18 percent ABV. Despite the peppermint-dominated nose, Berliner Luft is technically not a crème de menthe; it is built on a neutral grain spirit infused with a blend of mint, eucalyptus and a few other aromatics, then lightly sweetened and bottled in a tall, slim cylindrical bottle with the instantly recognizable "Berliner Luft" wordmark in script across the front.

The liqueur is served ice-cold in small chilled glasses, either neat as a digestif or poured over vanilla ice cream. In Berlin it also turns up in long drinks, mixed with club soda, bitter lemon, or a splash of white wine and tonic. Berliner Luft became a cult import in many countries outside Germany during the 1980s and 1990s, when students and young travelers would bring bottles home as souvenirs from weekend trips to West Berlin.

You will find Berliner Luft in nearly every German bar that takes its digestifs seriously, and especially in the late-night and club scene of Berlin itself, where it is poured straight from the freezer. Specialist German import shops, airport duty-free, and the bottle shops around Bahnhof Zoo and Friedrichstraße keep it on the shelf, and it is increasingly stocked in well-sorted delicatessens and online German grocers across Europe, North America, and parts of East Asia.