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The Fabled Pour
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Country

Netherlands

I have 2 sourced drinks connected to Netherlands. The label on each card says how: where it began, what the country is known for, what people drink there, or where the origin is disputed.

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Netherlands on the world map. Boundaries are generalized Natural Earth data.

Drinks of Netherlands

Signature drinks and regional ones, with the evidence behind each. A drink marked non-alcoholic has no alcohol in the traditional serve.

  • Illustration of Boerenjongens: golden-brown syrupy brandy with plump golden and dark raisins submerged in it, in a small clear spirits glass with a small spoon resting in it.

    Boerenjongens

    IconicRegional drink

    Golden and dark raisins soaked for a few weeks in sugar syrup and brandy or rum, eaten and drunk from a small borrelglaasje with a small spoon. The apricot version is boerenmeisjes. At weddings a large bowl was shared with guests.

    A food blog says it was mainly older men who took a small serving at birthdays, weddings and funerals, while women often chose the apricot version. Wikipedia lists the Netherlands as the place of origin and says that in America it is sometimes made with whiskey, a claim it marks as needing a citation. No documented origin date is given.

    Made with: raisins, brandy or rum, sugar syrup, cinnamon stick.

    Confidence: lowEvidence: thedutchtable.com (opens in a new tab), en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)

  • Illustration of Kopstootje: clear colorless jenever in a frosted glass, beside golden lager with a white foam head, in a small tulip-shaped glass of jenever filled to a domed brim, standing beside a tall straight glass of lager.

    Kopstootje

    IconicRegional drink

    A glass of ice-cold jenever filled to the brim in a tulip-shaped glass, with a glass of lager as chaser. The drinker leaves the full glass on the table and bends to take the first sip. The name means little headbutt.

    Jenever is the juniper spirit of the Low Countries. Wikipedia cites a 13th-century Flemish text describing juniper added to a distilled spirit and an Antwerp doctor's recipe from 1522. It defines a kopstoot as jenever drunk with a lager chaser. The sources fetched give no date for the kopstootje itself.

    Made with: jenever, lager beer.

    Confidence: mediumEvidence: en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)

Map data: Natural Earth, public domain.