Becherovka is a herbal liqueur from Karlovy Vary, produced in the Bohatice district of the town and sold under a trademark registered since 1922.
Becherovka is a herbal liqueur from Karlovy Vary, produced in the Bohatice district of the town. Its producer is the company Jan Becher – Karlovarská Becherovka, which belongs to the French group Pernod Ricard.[1][2]
Origin and names
According to Czech Television, the liqueur originated with Josef Vitus Becher, a pharmacist and merchant from Karlovy Vary, together with the English physician Frobrig.[3] It was previously sold as stomach drops under the name Anglická hořká ("English Bitter").[3] Today it is sometimes called the thirteenth healing spring of Karlovy Vary.[3] It reached England only in 1938, by which time it was already exported to fifty countries.[3]
The product was gradually sold under a number of names, for example English Bitter, Karlsbader Bitter, Karlsbader Becherbitter or Johann Becher.[1] As its popularity grew, competitors increasingly tried to copy the labels, the name and the liqueur itself.[1] The Czechized name Becherovka and its German counterpart Becher Bitter were therefore registered as a trademark in 1922.[1]
The Becher family
In 1871 Gustav Becher took over the family business from his father Jan and ran it for almost three decades.[1] A native of Karlovy Vary, he linked the liqueur with traditional Karlovy Vary porcelain, and small white porcelain cups appeared under his management.[1] According to the company, he also defended the brand in court against unfair competition.[1]
The last member of the family who knew the secret of the liqueur, and the only woman among them, was Hedda Becher.[1] After the death of her father Alfred in 1941 she took over the head of the company.[1] After the war she was expelled and before that had to hand over the family treasure to the communist regime.[1]
Awards
Over two centuries of existence Becherovka has received a number of awards, including honorary titles and medals brought home from world exhibitions.[1] It won the highest title awarded, the Grand Prix, at the exhibition in Paris in 1900.[1] In 1907 Emperor Franz Joseph granted it the title of Imperial and Royal Purveyor to the Court.[1]
The Beton cocktail
In 1967 the cocktail Beton appeared at the Expo 67 world exhibition in Montreal, Canada, served as a symbol of Czechoslovak-Canadian friendship.[1] In it Becherovka Original represented Czechoslovakia and Indian Tonic Water represented Canada.[1] The recipe was devised by Vlado Belovič, and the cocktail was chosen as the Czech National Cocktail.[1]
Production and the company
In 2010 a new plant was built in Bohatice in less than a year of construction work, which made it possible to move production out of the town centre and to increase capacity by up to 40 percent.[1] Annual production is roughly 8 million litres, and more than half of the output goes abroad.[1]
In connection with the work of the then managing director, Hospodářské noviny mentions the construction of a new line costing 100 million crowns in Karlovy Vary, the new product Becherovka Lemond, and the company's success in the USA and in the markets of states that formerly formed the Soviet Union.[2] The company also distributes other drinks of the Pernod Ricard group on the Czech and Slovak markets, for example Ballantine's, Jameson, Martell or Malibu.[2]