Friday, September 28, 2018

A treat for liqueur connoisseurs in Texas


I've mentioned Van Der Hum in these pages before.  It's a South African liqueur, made from local herbs, naartjie peel (like a slightly bitter tangerine) and honey, all steeped in brandy.  It's a warm, mellow, smooth (very smooth) drink, and is one of Miss D.'s and my favorite tipples.  We're very light drinkers - a case of Van Der Hum that I bought back in 2011 lasted us (and several friends) until 2017.  When it ran out, we tried to find more, but it's not normally imported into this country, so we gave up and tried making our own (recipes are available on the Internet).  Ours wasn't as good as the real stuff, but it was better than nothing.

You can imagine our joy, therefore, when we found that Spec's in Texas had imported several hundred bottles as an experiment, and distributed them to many of their branches throughout the state.  Our hopes were temporarily dashed, however, when we learned that our local Spec's branch wasn't a recipient.  Texas liquor laws don't allow the transfer of spirits across county lines, so if we wanted to restock our Van Der Hum supplies, we'd have to make a road trip to do so.

A lady at Spec's head office was very helpful, and directed us to a branch in the DFW area that had 24 bottles (2 cases) available.  We promptly called the store and told them to hold them all for us, and drove down there a couple of days ago to pick them up.  (The store gave us both a case discount, and a few dollars off per bottle due to the size of our order, so we did pretty well out of the deal.)  Some will go to friends, and we'll take some to our annual Blogorado gathering, which will be held in Colorado next month.  The rest should last Miss D. and I for another five or six years.  (We took the opportunity to come home via Muenster, TX, where Fischer's Meat Market sells wonderful German-style sausages, cheese and other goodies.  I had veal sausage, German sauerkraut and onion cheese for supper that night.  Yummy!)

If you're in or near Texas, find your nearest Specs store and ask them whether they have any Van Der Hum in stock.  I think you'll like it - at least, all of our friends who've tried it are very happy with it.  Give yourself a treat!  (Besides, if Specs sells enough of it, perhaps they'll keep it in stock, so we can buy more when we need it.)

Now, where in the USA can I buy Glayva liqueur?  I haven't found a local supplier yet, and I'm rather fond of that, too.  Can anyone help?

Peter

14 comments:

Uncle Lar said...

https://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/p/5237/glayva-liqueur
Based in the UK says they ship to the United States.
The thing is they want £37.50 per liter including VAT and another £44 for shipping two bottles.
On top of that there are unspecified US custom charges.
And that's assuming Texas allows the import of liquor.
My state of Alabama does not.

Bryn said...

Try your TX supermarkets - it's a staple in all our supermarket alcohol aisles, including Tesco and Asda(Walmart), so you might get lucky.

Jeff B said...

Peter, it seems a store that is between me and Blogorado has Glayva for $35.99/750mL. Want I should swing by and get you a bottle?

Jim said...

Great. Now I have to search it out. I hope we can find it up here in Kansas.

Bryn said...

Okaaayy... I stand corrected. Apparently no-one stocks Glayva as a matter of course in the States, never mind TX......
The mail-order/personal import prices I see for you on that side of the pond are extortionate.
Our current price here at Asda is £14.00($18.25) per 500ml....

Sorry......

Peter said...

@Jeff B.: YES, PLEASE! I've just sent e-mail to the address in your blog profile. Please reply via that means - or, if that e-mail no longer works, get hold of me at the e-mail address in my blog profile. I'll send you money.

Thanks!

Flugelman said...

So, us folks in the DFW area are SOL 'cause it's all up near Wichita Falls now?
Bummah...


J/K, will be on the lookout for some. Drambuie happens to be my favorite right now but I'm open to new things.

Rich in NC said...

We were able to get glayva in Burlington County NJ when we lived in New Jersey just east of Philly. It wss available in all the 'come to Jerzee to get booze' stores by us.
We live in NC just south of Danville VA now and ABC is the place for booze and they ain't got nuthin' like up north.

Tom in NC said...

I see where the NC ABC website says they at least carry it but it will vary by location. I can check around and see if the stores in my local area (Raleigh and Wilmington) carry it. You are right, it's quite nice! Will let you know.

danielbarger said...

If you like aperitif liquoers you should try a pacharon....a Basque liquor made from sloe berries.

Old guy said...

Just bought a bottle here at Spec’s in San Antonio. Decent per bottle price. They had 11 left afterwards. Interesting taste. (I enjoyed it.)

Thank you for the recommendation.

Dave said...

I had bacon from Fishers for lunch yesterday, will need to road trip again soon. Their smoked sausage is grest.

Kirk said...

I happened to be in the DFW area this past weekend and grabbed a bottle. I quite enjoy it. Peter, do you prefer it chilled, over ice or room temperature?

Peter said...

@Kirk: I like it in all of those ways, but usually I drink it at room temperature. Try it over ice cream, too - it's wicked good.