Contura - RhB
Contura - RhB
Contura - RhB
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To make good<br />
Röteli you need<br />
pailfuls of highquality<br />
cherries<br />
and spices.<br />
spread. Recipes were handed down from family to family and from generation<br />
to generation. Basically, Röteli is no more than water, schnapps,<br />
<br />
Year’s Eve. "In the old days, the married men would see the old year out.<br />
And the bachelors would see the new year in. They would go from one<br />
farmhouse to another to wish the occupants good luck and prosperity in<br />
the new year, particularly in their stables. Or, more precisely, it gave them<br />
a chance to woo the farmers’ daughters. As a reward, they received a sip<br />
of Röteli. One sip followed another – as did the (more or less virtuous)<br />
wishes they expressed", says Kindschi with a grin. He grew up in Davos<br />
Dorf, where Kindschi Söhne AG operated their distillery until 2012. He too<br />
used to visit the farmhouses in this manner. He says it was a novel way of<br />
dating, long before Internet and Facebook. Thanks to this magic potion,<br />
many a friendship or life-partnership was formed.<br />
The best Röteli is well-balanced<br />
<br />
individual spice should predominate. Balance is the name of the game." It<br />
is not without a touch of pride that he mentions the 100,000 litres that he<br />
produces every year. And his production is on the increase. Davos is clearly<br />
the leading centre of production of this liqueur. So, how do you make<br />
good Röteli? First, he needs good-quality dried cherries. I beg your pardon?<br />
Cherries in Davos, 1,500 metres above sea level, far above the level<br />
for fruit-growing? A long time ago, dried cherries (which could be kept a<br />
long time) would be transported here on pack animals from Italy and the<br />
<br />
he has to order 3-4 tons of cherries from Turkey, because Swiss producers<br />
<br />
steel tank contains 240 kilograms of cherries and 16 kilograms of spices<br />
including cinnamon, vanilla, cloves and cardamom - the other ingredients<br />
remain a secret. Then he adds 2,000 litres of fruit schnapps (mostly<br />
from apples or pears) with an alcohol content of 40 per cent. The cherries<br />
<br />
<br />
22<br />
www.rhb.ch/contura