Family history from the Berlin underground — founded in 2009
The roots of Berliner Brandstifter go back a long way: Ernst August Honrodt, director of the Voßberg sugar factory near Berlin, distilled high-quality spirits from regional grain and sugar beets in the period before the Second World War — for friends, for the family, with great conviction and without much fuss. Decades later, his great-grandson Vincent Honrodt was sitting in a park after a long night in Berlin's clubs, asking himself whether there were blossoms, herbs, and aromas that were truly typical of this city. The answer became the founding idea.
In 2009, Berlin-born Vincent Honrodt launched the brand Berliner Brandstifter — initially with a premium grain spirit that bore his great-grandfather's signature: regional raw materials, the smallest possible batches, uncompromising quality. Honrodt financed the gin launch in 2012/2013 via a crowdfunding project on the Startnext platform — a bold step for the time, which proved the Berlin scene's connection to the project.
From the Speisegut field to the bottle — craftsmanship with a Berlin address
The heart of production is the origin of the botanicals. They grow on a field specifically cultivated for Berliner Brandstifter at the Berlin farm Speisegut in Gatow — elderflower, woodruff, mallow blossoms, cucumber, cornflower, wild rose, and other ingredients, some of which are picked by hand. The limited harvest directly determines the edition of each vintage.
What separates the production from industrial approaches is the single maceration process: each botanical is macerated separately and distilled separately so that the aromas can be precisely coordinated on a sensory level. Only then does a partner in Berlin-Kaulsdorf combine the individual distillates with the base alcohol. This base alcohol — a wheat distillate for gin and grain spirit, and a sugar beet distillate for the vodka — undergoes seven-fold filtration, which gives the finished product its characteristic softness. Each bottle is filled by hand and hand-numbered. Social commitment is an integral part of the business model: in pre-production, Berliner Brandstifter works with Berlin workshops for people with disabilities. All spirits are vegan, lactose-free, and gluten-free, with no added preservatives.
Three core products, one clear style — floral, regional, limited
The Berliner Brandstifter range revolves around three main products: the Berlin Dry Gin (43.3% ABV), the Berlin Vodka (43.3% ABV), and the premium grain spirit. The portfolio is supplemented by special editions such as the Berlin Aged Gin, which is additionally aged in barrels and expanded with blackberries as a botanical, as well as a non-alcoholic gin alternative. The Berlin Dry Gin has juniper as a clear backbone; layered over this is a distinctly floral layer of elderflower, mallow, and woodruff, plus cucumber and subtle citrus notes. The finish is soft, lingering, with gentle juniper. The vodka relies on botanicals typical of city gardens — wild rose, cornflower, elder, orris root, blackcurrant — and follows the same philosophy of regional anchoring.
The editions are limited by the harvest: the gin is released in batches of a maximum of 9,999 bottles, the vodka in batches of 999 bottles. The minimalist bottle design, which has won multiple design awards, is more than just packaging — it is an attitude: no noise, no exaggeration, pure Berlin.
