Hasselt museum peppers new jenever with real gold
Reviving an old tradition, the Jenever Museum in Hasselt has produced a limited-series liqueur that contains flakes of 24-karat gold
On Flemish food and drink
The liqueur was produced by the Jenever Museum in Hasselt to mark the 150-year anniversary of the crowning of the city’s statue of the Virgin and Child, named Virga Jesse. As it happens, 2017 is also a festival year for the Virga Jesse, whose city-wide celebrations occur only every seven years.
The statue’s golden crowns, now displayed in the city museum, were donated by the city’s jenever distillers in gratitude for the eradication of a cattle disease. A vaccine was developed by a local doctor, whose family owned a distillery.
The inspiration for Hasselt’s Goudwater has its roots in the 16th century, when there was a vogue for elixirs containing real gold. Diane de Poitiers, the mistress of French King Henry II, was said to have drunk a gold concoction that kept her looking 20 years younger.
Fruits and spices
Jan Kempeneers, the Jenever Museum’s master distiller, went digging in the museum’s archives, and in archives all over Belgium and the Netherlands, to create the new liqueur. He spent 18 months refining the recipe.
Its basis is moutwijn, or malt wine, which is also used to make jenever. But here it’s combined with extracts of citrus fruit and 12 herbs and spices. Many of the plants used to flavour the liqueur have traditional uses associated with women and women’s health.
Caraway seed was thought to stimulate milk production in nursing mothers, and celery seed was thought to have a calming effect on the nervous system. Rosewater adds a feminine touch and refers to love.
The effect is both luxurious and fun, like a grown-up snow globe
The liqueur is clear, with a faint golden tint. Shake the bottle, and the flakes of gold in the bottom disperse and remain suspended before slowly settling again. The effect is both luxurious and fun, like a grown-up snow globe.
The citrus, floral and herb aromas are pleasant and fresh in the glass, with the citrus fruit and coriander most noticeable on the tongue. The taste is lightly sweet but not syrupy.
Goudwater is produced in a limited edition of 500 bottles, available for purchase at €25 each in the Jenever Museum. It’s also available by the glass in the museum’s tasting room.
About the author
