●THE AMARO ATLAS

RECORD wurzelpeter · EVIDENCE GRADE B · UNCLAIMED · LAST VERIFIED 2026-07-09

Wurzelpeter

Berlin · Germany · 52.499, 13.449

REGION: central europeTRADITION: KräuterlikörWEBSITE ↗

ZONE 01 — VERIFIED FACTS

Founded
1935 in Berlin by Paul Pöschke (producer's own account); Wikipedia's independently-sourced history additionally names Walter Heyer as co-founder, with the recipe reportedly documented back to 1875A·2
Legal entity
Berliner BärenSiegel GmbH, registered at Amtsgericht Charlottenburg, HRB 203015 B, Am Flutgraben 2, D-12435 Berlin (NorthData's registry mirror renders the full commercial name as "Berliner Bären Siegel GmbH Feine Spirituosenspezialitäten"; producer's own Impressum confirms "Berliner BärenSiegel GmbH" as used here)B·8
East German cult status
Under VEB Bärensiegel production during the GDR era, the liqueur became so sought-after it was traded informally as barter goods; known by the saying 'sooner or later, everyone drinks Wurzelpeter'. Wikipedia additionally describes it as regarded as "the East German counterpart of Jägermeister"A·2
Post-reunification growth
Expanded West-wide after 1990 reunification, reaching approximately 2.6 million bottles per year by 2003A·2
International distribution
Exports to Korea, China and Taiwan began in 2012A·2
Standard ABV and format
30% vol, 0.7 litre bottle, per current retail listing. Note: Wikipedia (lower-graded secondary source) states the recipe was reformulated and strengthened to 40% vol in 2017; this could not be independently confirmed against a producer-official or current retail source on re-fetch, so 30% (the better-graded, current commercial listing) is retained as the reported figure with this conflict flagged for future verificationB·4
Award
Won an ISW (International Spirits Award) Gold Medal in 2025 per producer's own siteA·1
Recipe composition
Made from over 30 selected roots, bark, herbs, fruits and spices, largely regionally sourced; specific botanicals beyond general descriptors are not disclosed by the producerB·4

ZONE 02 — AI-COLLATED SUMMARY

AI-ASSISTED · FROM GRADED PUBLIC SOURCES

Wurzelpeter is a Berlin herbal liqueur (Kräuterlikör) founded in 1935 (producer credits Paul Pöschke; Wikipedia additionally names co-founder Walter Heyer), which became a cult East German staple during the divided-city era and expanded nationally and internationally after reunification. Produced today by Berliner BärenSiegel GmbH at 30% vol per current retail listing (a lower-graded source claims a 2017 strengthening to 40% vol, unconfirmed independently), it is made from over 30 roots, bark, herbs, fruits and spices and carries a fruity-sweet, herbal-spicy profile with a finely balanced bitterness that the producer and retailers describe as secondary rather than defining. Given that sweetness and fruit character are foregrounded ahead of bitterness in every sourced description, this record places the product in the family (bittering-adjacent) ring rather than core amaro.

AI-collated from the graded sources below; operator review pending. Adversarially re-verified 2026-07-09: legal name and founding year confirmed against producer-official sources with one addition (co-founder); ABV has an unresolved cross-source conflict (30% vs 40%) flagged above rather than silently resolved.

ZONE 03 — PRODUCER-SUBMITTED NOTES

This record is unclaimed. This space opens to the producer when they claim it. Producer claiming is coming soon.

PRODUCTS ON RECORD

Wurzelpeter Kräuterlikör

30% ABV · 700ML

BOTTLE IMAGE
ADDED BY THE PRODUCER

SUBCATEGORY — (family ring)RING familyTRADITION KräuterlikörSELF-IDENTIFIED “Kräuterlikör (German herbal liqueur)”

The producer's standard-bearer herbal liqueur, made from handpicked roots, bark, herbs, fruits and spices largely sourced from the Berlin region, following a recipe dating to 1935. The flavour runs fruity and sweet with herbal, spicy and slightly sharp undertones; the producer and retailers describe a finely balanced bitterness that shapes the character without dominating it, giving the liqueur an East German cult status once traded as informal barter goods. Typically served neat and ice-cold as a digestif or mixed into long drinks.

BOTANICAL MATRIX — 11 GRADED EDGES

  • roots (unspecified selection) · base botanicalB·4
  • bark (unspecified selection) · base botanicalB·4
  • herbs (unspecified selection, over 30 total ingredients per producer) · herbal complexityA·1
  • fruits (unspecified selection) · sweetness/fruit characterB·4
  • spices (unspecified selection) · spice characterB·4
  • orange peel · nose/aromaticC·6
  • vanilla · nose/aromaticC·6
  • clove · nose/aromaticC·6
  • ginger · nose/aromaticC·6
  • cinnamon · nose/aromaticC·6
  • anise · nose/aromaticC·6

DESCRIPTORS

  • fruity-sweet ▮▮▮▮▮B·4
  • herbal ▮▮▮▮▮B·4
  • spicy ▮▮▮▮▮B·4
  • balanced bitterness ▮▮▮▮▮C·6

SERVES

Neat, ice-cold

canonical
  • · 6cl Wurzelpeter Kräuterlikör
  • · serve ice-cold, neat

Serve chilled from the freezer or over ice as a digestif.

Long drink mixer

producer
  • · 4-5cl Wurzelpeter Kräuterlikör
  • · top with mixer of choice
  • · serve over ice

Mixed into long drinks per producer recipe suggestions (e.g. with tonic or cola).B·4

ZONE 04 — COMMUNITY TASTING NOTES

RESERVED — community notes open in V2 with moderation and bias handling. The contributions ledger is already recording.

COMMON QUESTIONS

Where is Wurzelpeter made?
Wurzelpeter is made in Berlin, Germany.
What style of amaro is Wurzelpeter?
On The Amaro Atlas, Wurzelpeter Kräuterlikör is recorded in the family ring, within the Kräuterlikör tradition. The producer describes it as "Kräuterlikör (German herbal liqueur)".

SOURCES — A–D GRADED (8)

  1. [1]AWurzelpeter Berlin — official homepage · Berliner BärenSiegel GmbH · producer-official · accessed 2026-07-09
  2. [2]AWurzelpeter Berlin — Historie · Berliner BärenSiegel GmbH · producer-official · accessed 2026-07-09
  3. [3]AWurzelpeter Berlin — Impressum · Berliner BärenSiegel GmbH · producer-official · accessed 2026-07-09
  4. [4]BWurzelpeter Kräuterlikör product listing · Conalco.de · other · accessed 2026-07-09German retailer listing confirming 30% vol, 0.7L bottle, and producer-sourced tasting/ingredient copy. Re-fetched and confirmed 2026-07-09.
  5. [5]CWurzelpeter product note · Meininger's International · press · accessed 2026-07-09Trade press listing quoted in discovery notes; page returned HTTP 403 on direct re-fetch this session (again, both attempts), so content is carried forward from discovery brief only, not independently re-verified.
  6. [6]CDiscovery research notes (compiled) · other · accessed 2026-07-09Compiled discovery notes summarising producer, retailer (Conalco, Meininger) and encyclopaedic sources on flavour descriptors, botanicals and ABV history; used for facts not independently re-confirmed via direct fetch this session.
  7. [7]CWurzelpeter · Wikipedia · database · accessed 2026-07-09Re-fetched 2026-07-09: independently confirms 1935 founding, adds co-founder Walter Heyer and a claimed 2017 strengthening to 40% vol not corroborated elsewhere. Used to amend founding-fact wording and flag the ABV conflict; not used to override the higher-graded ABV source.
  8. [8]BBerliner BärenSiegel GmbH — company registry entry · NorthData · regulatory · accessed 2026-07-09Company registry mirror citing Amtsgericht Charlottenburg HRB 203015 B, confirming legal name (fuller commercial rendering includes trade-description suffix) and registered address. Re-fetched and confirmed 2026-07-09.

A producer-official / regulatory · B reputable published · C secondary · D community/unverified