Planet Berlin: Mythical schnapps

Stefanie Drobits evoked the Miss Brösel brand name to give voice to her line of craft spirits brewed in her Austrian homeland and the Franconia region of Germany. "From each fruit she awakens a spirit, which she captures in the bottle," states the Fräulein Brösels Schnapserwachen slogan. Spirits were an integral part of Drobit's upbringing, including a distillery excursion while in kindergarten.

The distilled brandies embody the "good spirits" discovered by Fräulein Brösel on walks through a fairytale forest that is illustrated on every schnapps bottle. The alcohol is a pure and unadulterated, without artificial additives. And to make these good spirits more palatable to a broader audience, they are relatively mild thanks to a slightly lower alcohol content.

Indeed, Stefanie Drobits has written a complete illustrated fairy tale, published on the Fräulein Brösels Schnapserwachen website, that's pitched as the inspiration for her spirit shop. Here, the eponymous Miss Brösel is searching for a prince and along the way, finds herself in a forest where local animals transmogrify into friendly spirits, which now manifest in every bottle of Brösel schnapps.

"When I close my eyes, I see forest and trees," says Stefanie Drobits, who grew up amid nature in a small village in Austria's Burgenland. This upbringing is reflected in her spirits shop that contains plenty of wood, plants and flowers. The earthy ambience is well-complemented by the hand-painted wallpaper from the 1920s that was uncovered during the store's renovation.