Кюммель: История и особенности ликёра

Sweet liqueur flavored with caraway, cumin, and fennel seeds

Kümmel, kummel or kimmel , is a sweet, colourless liqueur flavoured with caraway ( Kümmel, ) seeds, cumin and fennel. Historians state that Lucas Bols (1652 1719) first distilled kümmel liqueur in the Netherlands in 1675. It was then taken to Germany and to Russia; the former is now the principal producer and consumer of kümmel.

Kümmel's popularity grew in the early 19th century, being produced by 1823 in Allasch, the Governorate of Livonia in Russian Empire (modern vertical align=sup, Latvia). Kümmel was produced by Wilhelm von Blanckenhagen (1761–1840), who owned land around Allasch which included a pure and reliable water source. In the mid 19th Century, kümmel was the rival of gin. Being made with caraway rather than juniper, it had one main advantage: caraway has a calmative effect, reducing flatulence and the bloated feeling experienced after a heavy meal. By 1850, Because of its rumored ability to steady the nerves of golfers there, it acquired the nickname of "putting mixture". it was widely popular and produced there until 1944 when the Soviet Union re occupied Latvia and expelled ethnic Germans from the region. In 1830, Allasch was exhibited at the Leipzig Trade Fair and quickly gained popularity, being soon produced by local distilleries. It is now considered a Leipzig specialty, usually drunk as a digestif, although there are also manufacturers outside Leipzig. In Latvia, it is produced by Latvijas Balzams under the Latvianized name "Allažu ķimelis". A charming and evocative scene of drinking kümmel occurs in Rainer Werner Fassbinder's television miniseries, "Berlin Alexanderplatz" (1980), where the character Franz Biberkopf speaks in the voices of glasses of kümmel and three beers in a philosophical dialogue as he evaluates the taste and downs each drink in turn.