The oldest family business in the Netherlands, Nolet Distilleries, provided more than 14 million litres of vodka for premium pours at bars last year from New York to Montreal. But Schiedam, the hometown of Ketel One vodka, champions the merits of a different distillate: jenever, the original gin. In fact, as visitors to this scenic satellite of Rotterdam soon discover, this small town is one of the world's original gin joints.
A doctor in Leiden first mixed the cocktail infusion of juniper berries into a distilled spirit in 1650. His invention, described as a "wholesome family" cure for a wobbly belly, soon led to nearly 40 million litres of annual exports from Holland. The Dutch also began adding other herbs, spices and flavours to jenever, giving these elixirs such medicinal (and fanciful) names as "Assurance for Bitter Suffering." Later, when William III of Orange became King of England by marrying Mary Stuart, he presented the recipe for jenever to his new subjects who went on to both bastardize the name and the product to produce gin.
On the banks of the Nieuwe Maas River, the city of Schiedam, 35 kilometres south of Leiden, took the leading role in Holland's booze boom. In fact, the city's name became synonymous with jenever. Bertus Aafjes, one of the most beloved Dutch writers, once cheekily described the town as "a shot-spouting sow whose nipples are the harbour bars."
At its peak in 1890, the city's jenever industry included 400 distilleries and 20 windmills grinding grains, churning out the clear liquid that tastes similar to gin but with less alcohol and a kinder, gentler finish. It is still a national favourite and really comes into its own when chased with a frothy pilsner -- a combination known as a kopstoot (or head butt), tossed back with a hearty shout of proost! (Dutch for cheers).
This killer combo can be taste-tested at the Weeshuis, an excellent bar where their ample jenever collection is supplemented with an even larger selection of beer.
Or try Café-Jeneverie 't Spul, where the owner, Rob van Klaarwater, is a true obsessive and stocks 100s of jenevers, hosts tastings and collects all manner of jenever knickknacks, including ancient bottles shaped like coffins, specialty glassware and historic advertisements. He even has a bottle of ultra rare Canadian-distilled jenever, made by a Montreal distillery a couple of decades back to celebrate the 300th anniversary of De Kuyper's, another Schiedam-based jenever company.
Van Klaarwater also drowned me with prime jenever lore: that the first African slaves were bought with jenever; that it still rates as the celebratory drink of choice in Ghana; that everything from the novels of Charles Dickens to 1920s American Jazz songs are filled with references to Schiedam and its principle product.
And that explorers Stanley and Livingstone, smugly thinking that they were the first visitors to the heart of Africa, were taken aback when served welcoming shots of jenever by the locals.
For a more official history of jenever the town also boasts a Distillate Museum. In addition to permanent exhibits on the history and production of jenever, the museum distills its own elixirs (ranging from harsh horse-stall cleaner to delicate and fruity aperitifs) for visitors to sample for just around $2 for three mini-shots.
One of the town's key players in the rise of jenever production was Nolet founder Jan Lucasse Nolet (1638-1702), who passed on his company and its secrets through 10 generations of fathers and sons to Carel Nolet. The current president himself developed his own brand of Ketel 1 jenever in the 1970s. It is named after the testing cauldron he used to formulate it.
Die-hard Ketel fans can also arrange a tour of Nolet Distilleries, which is expanding rapidly to keep up with the demand for vodka. Visitors will have to wait until the end of this year for the opening of their towering windmill visitor centre, but meanwhile will undoubtedly enjoy the fully equipped cocktail bar on their top floor.
As for that trendy Ketel One vodka so popular in North America, it was created after Nolet found a recipe in the family's ancient vault. He tinkered with it in the very same cauldron that produced the Ketel 1 jenever so loved by the Dutch.
When he got the mix just right he figured it would make an excellent product for the United States since Americans didn't have the acquired taste for jenever. He and his sons started taking cases across the Atlantic in 1990 themselves and going on sales calls from select bar to select bar, but word of mouth did most of the work.
Ketel One vodka is now one of Holland's fastest-growing export, with sales in the United States growing by a factor of 10 between 1993 and 1996. Sales to Canada are now also quickly falling in line.
So who knows? Perhaps one day Schiedam will be synonymous with vodka. Until then, jenever is still the toast of the town.
Pack your bags
GETTING THERE
Schiedam is 10 minutes by train from Rotterdam.
WHERE TO DRINK
Weeshuis: 78 Hoogstraat; 31 (10) 426-1657.
Café-Jeneverie 't Spul: 92 Hoogstraat; 31 (10) 427-0642.
TOURS
Jeneverstokerij Nolet: 14 Hoofdstraat; 31 (10) 246-2929. Open by appointment only.
Het Gedistilleerd Museum: 74-76 Lange Haven; 31 (10) 426 1291; http://www.hetgedistilleerdmuseum.nl. Open Tuesday to Saturday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m., and on Sunday from 12:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.
