European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - October 15, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Making a schnapps in America by Howard g. Goldberg new York times in 1906, on Manhattan s lower East Side immigrants often celebrated by filling glasses an saying to friends in yiddish. Lomira Machen schnapps let us make a  in 1986, on the upper East Side where those immigrants Yuppie great grandchildren thrive a customer scanning spirits in a liquor store might imagine distillery presidents saying to vice presidents let us. Too make a  everyone it seems is making a schnapps a rising beverage in America s otherwise sagging distilled spirits Market at least 33 Domestic and 12 imported brands Are listed in beverage Media a guide to liquor store products and prices when the great grandparents said schnapps from the German Schnaps for spirits they meant Brandy or a hard dry spirit such As Gin. When their descendants say schnapps in the United states they mean a Sweet Light bodied alcoholic beverage that is a bit viscous and tastes intensely of amaretto or Anise or Apple or nowadays of Apricot banana Brandy butterscotch cinnamon Coffee cola Cranberry Grapefruit hazelnut pineapple or chocolate to name Only a few. In american schnapps Flavouring and sometimes color is added to Clear Neutral spirits distilled from Grain. Schnapps differs from High proof Brandy which is distilled from wine and fruits and includes Calvados from apples raise strawberries Kirsch cherries and Slipovitz plums. The . Government designates schnapps a liqueur. But schnapps is not so Sweet or heavy As such traditional liqueurs As Cherry Hje Oring and Creme de Menthe. Principal . Domestic brands of schnapps include Erma Bombeck file photo schnapps including at least 33 Domestic and 12 imported brands. Is coming on Strong in . Dekuyper produced by John Dekuyper & son partly owned by the National distillers products co which Sells seven flavors Hiram Walker inc. 14 flavors Arrow i Heublein inc18 Leroux 13. Or Mcgillicuddy s Joseph e. Seagram & son four or Boston Glenmore distilleries co. 10. And de Phillips & sons seven among other brands some imported these Are available. Bols. Mohawk Regnier Jacquin Marie Brizard Slock Van Der Herr and Winter Arlen. Since 1982, when fruit Flavoured schnapps arrived on the Market with or. Boston Apple schnapps has become a favorite of the so called flavor generation baby Boomers who were reared on sugary Colas and for whom lower alcohol beverages signify health fitness and Safe driving. Most schnapps Range from 48 to 60 proof lower than Vodka Gin or whiskies. And at $5 to $8 for 750-milliliter bottles schnapps also is less expensive. Cold and warm Peppermint spearmint and cinnamon schnapps up to 100 proof have Long been favourites in Blue Collar bars. They Are often gulped from shot glasses with Beer As a Chaser members of the Yuppie generation Are More Likely to mix their lower alcohol schnapps with fruit juices sodas or Ginger ale across America bartenders Are concocting fancifully titled schnapps drinks. Customers order the brain pour peach schnapps Over ice add Irish Cream liqueur let it curdle a fuzzy Navel peach schnapps and Orange juice an Apple Ball Apple schnapps and club soda and a paranoid Pear schnapps and tequila. At Ichabod san upper East Side Manhattan bar and restaurant . Ruberti. A bartender says he gets lots of Calls for woo woos " peach schnapps Vodka and Cranberry juice. Schnapps also is found in dessert"., often steeped into fresh fruit italian Stylo some schnapps Are said to work As a digestive. For the distilled spirits Industry schnapps casts a Ray of Hope although shipments of spirits declined 27 percent in 1985 to pre-1975 Levels liqueurs grew according to Impact a wine and spirits newsletter. Cordials and liqueurs in terms Are synonymous powered by increased consumption of fruit Flavoured schnapps constituted a record 10 9 percent share of the spirits Market Impact said. Frank c Walters the publication s research director said schnapps represents about 25 percent of the liqueur sales Overall. 5.3 million cases of schnapps were shipped to retail stores in 1985 up 74 percent from the 3 05 million shipped in 1984. Walters said. The trend has continued this year he said with the Leader still Dekuyper s peach ree schnapps Whoso 1986 sales the company projects at 2.4 million cases peach tree was introduced in 1984, and in 1985, the first full year it was marketed 1.3 million cases were sold said Patricia m. Wiley. National distillers director of new product development competitors Are marketing some 40 brands of poach schnapps John Murphy a Young contract negotiator for a Stamford. Con company that Sells aerospace equipment drinks schnapps always alter dinner because it s totally different it s the in thing he says. The warm feeling left by a gulp of schnapps has Long made it a favorite of Farmers fishermen Hunters campers hikers football fans and others who find themselves outdoors in the cold Tom Abar owner manager of the rile spot a liquor store in grand Forks . That stocks 25 flavors of schnapps says that when the wind chill drops the temperature to 60 below his customers stir cinnamon schnapps into hot Apple cider is it Good it s a perfect blend and a kind of Antifreeze Abar said. My customers say if their car has it they must have it  on vacation recently i saw a woman take her Little camera out of the Case and As she focused it a Little Booklet wrapped in plastic and hanging from a leather thong dangled aimlessly. She took a deep breath and our eyes met. My husband s idea she said. So i would t lose the manual and i d have it with me All the  courage sister i said and walked away. We Veall been there. It began for me the Day i married the keeper of Camelot who promised to love and cherish and bring order to my Kitchen cupboards refrigerator and closets for As Long As i was willing to go on living. I Don t think i la Ever forget the Day i opened a Large Box of com flakes and Raisin bran wheat squares and puffs of sugar fell into my bowl. My husband smiled and said no sense having four boxes sitting around taking in space. I condensed  from that Day Forward living became an adventure. He discovered when an ice Cream or sherbet was t moving he could layer it in a popular Carton in such a Way that you had to eat through three inches of Frost to gel to the Good stuff. It s not pleasant getting a spoonful of Lemon sherbet and Peanut Butler supreme in the same bite. It May take away the need for All those half filled ice Cream boxes in the Freezer but it also eliminates your passion for ice Cream. Crackers were another favorite. You never knew when you put your hand in a Box what you would find. I told him one Day this has to Stop you Are creating children filled with suspicion and distrust. They Don t believe anything  you re exaggerating he said. I am not exaggerating. Ever since they scaled to the top shelf of the Kitchen cupboard to get a tin wednesday october 15, 1986 marked Peanut Brittle and discovered you had stored Luggage keys in it they Don t even believe in mister Rogers  he said there is no reason in the world Why his Home should not have the same efficiency As his office. Fair enough i said. Tomorrow i am coming Down and attaching a whisk Broom from a thumbtack by your door so that if you bring Sand in on your feet you can wipe it off before you get to your desk. Next Iii bring in 500 empty Margarine containers and stuff them with paper clips tape Pencil stubs Loose change mailing labels and Stamps and Jam them in your refrigerator without a clue Aslo what they  you have Given me a great Ideal he said brightly. No wonder i Don t sleep nights. C Las Angels time Syndicate the stars and stripes Page 17