At home in Alpine meadows and chalets, gentian as “homemade“ specialty is definitely not for faint taste buds. Distillation master Rabanser, with his version of this typical bitter spirit, shows that also gentian can be used to make a distillate of high sensorial quality. Our gentian grappa is not made from blue gentian, but rather from the protected yellow-blooming variety called Gentiana punctata, spotted gentian. Its seeds are planted on the Alpe di Siusi at 2000 m above sea level and ready to be picked after five years. Its bitter roots are ground according to an ancient recipe, liquefied, mixed with apple and carefully distilled. The apple pulp produces the fruit sugars necessary for fermentation, as well as enriching the distillate with fruity notes to round off and balance the different bitter tones of gentian.