Production and processing of beverages
Bottelaar prepares, bottles and labels soft drinks and spirits in small to medium runs. From recipe to a full pallet carrying your own label.
The production process
You decide how much you hand over. We take care of the whole route, or only the part for which you lack the equipment and licences.
You buy the raw materials yourself; that stays your choice and your cost. We are glad to advise: with our knowledge of the market we point you to the right suppliers, certainly for expensive or hard-to-find ingredients. You may also use our own raw materials and tinctures. The tinctures needed for spirits we make ourselves and always keep in stock, so you need not source them elsewhere.
Your recipe is what sets you apart in the market and it is safe with us. For spirits we work with distillery De Tweekoppige Phoenix, which distils by hand on a classic pot still and column. Herbs, spices, flowers and vegetables lend aroma and flavour through tinctures and distillate. Every drink is analysed for strength, pH, colour, aroma and taste, and only released for bottling after checking and maturing.
Our filling line is deliberately small-scale and adjustable, so every product can be fine-tuned. Depending on the drink we pasteurise after bottling. Filling is done under vacuum so every bottle is filled evenly, with adjustable carbonation for a sparkling soft drink or mixed drink. Screw caps, corks, capsules, stoppered corks and crown caps from 18 to 35 mm all fit, on round and square bottles, hip flasks and embossed bottles.
Bottelaar holds an excise warehouse licence. Your spirits can therefore be produced and stored under duty suspension, which keeps your stock and storage costs down. All incoming goods are registered by a fixed procedure, so materials and finished product can always be verified. Shipping to consumers runs, by arrangement, under the retail licence of De Tweekoppige Phoenix.
What we make
At Bottelaar almost any drink can be made and processed, entirely to your wishes. We handle both products we make ourselves and products produced elsewhere.
Water and soft drinks
With our mobile filling line we produce table water and soft drinks in various flavours, still or carbonated. Crown cap or screw cap, under your own private label. Where possible we work with organic ingredients: good taste at a sharp price.
Pre-mix
Because we produce gin, genever and whisky ourselves, we can fill a complete range of mixed drinks. Gin and tonic, rum and cola, moscow mule and mojito are a few examples, available from miniature bottle to keg for the hospitality trade.
Spirits
Producing spirits takes real knowledge. With the right ingredients we make a fine end product, analysed for strength, pH, colour, aroma and taste. Think of vodka from tulip bulbs, gin from cucumber and genever from unused bread.
Alcohol free
Kombucha is brewed with a scoby. Natural fermentation yields a lightly sparkling drink in various flavours, a fresh alternative without alcohol. We also handle tea, chai and syrup concepts on the same line.
About Bottelaar
Bottelaar is part of Distillery De Tweekoppige Phoenix. It started as a production company for the distillery and its partners, a filling line for every drink. Strong growth in products and partnerships has since expanded production considerably.
On commission and for our own labels we make liqueur, gin, genever and whisky, as well as soft and mixed drinks. We process products made in house and elsewhere, and work out the fastest and best route together with the partner. Labelling and packing runs from miniature to magnum. We check the whole process closely, from purchasing to the final finish of every product.
Starting entrepreneurs can begin on a small scale at Bottelaar. As a partner you get access, after the agreement, to the workspace and equipment to join in, which lowers costs and raises your return. House rules do apply, so production stays safe and of good quality.
You remain responsible for marketing and selling your product. With our knowledge of the market we are glad to think along, from the first conversation to the launch.
Tasting room Zaanse Schans
In the old Dutch café on the Zaanse Schans we pour our own line of drinks. Besides tasting you can come for coffee, lunch or a drink, and in summer for the terrace overlooking the Schans.
The shop next door carries a wide range of liqueurs, distillates and soft drinks. De Tweekoppige Phoenix holds a full retail licence, which allows local sales and shipping to consumers.
Partners
From soft drinks and kombucha to whisky and genever. Customers may arrange their own bottle and labelling; we take care of the making, bottling or finishing.
We produce for parties wanting a one-off run, for instance for a launch, for small-scale productions such as those of restaurants and for brands that belong to the core range of supermarkets and liquor stores.
Tea and syrups
Herbal teas and botanical syrups from herbs grown in the Netherlands by affiliated wild farmers, tied to restoring biodiversity.
wilder-land.com
Vodka
A caramel-infused vodka, issued by the Amsterdam canal cruise company Friendship Amsterdam and distilled in the Zaan region.
friendshipamsterdam.com
Chai
Handmade chai based on black tea with cinnamon, cardamom, pepper, fennel, ginger, star anise and clove. Made for and by baristas.
nomadschai.com
Soft drinks
Seventeen fully natural lemonade syrups with organic cane sugar, from elderflower and ginger-lime to tonic and sassafras root beer.
sarusoda.nl
Kombucha
Kombucha from Amsterdam, brewed with fresh fruit, herbs and Dutch dune water, in flavours such as ginger and passion fruit.
kraanvogelkombucha.nl
Whisky
Dutch whisky matured at least five years in bourbon casks and then finished for six to twelve months in vermouth casks.
willemswhisky.com
Whisky
Small-batch Dutch whisky from Zaandam. The Triple Wood blends malt of three, five and seven years, matured in bordeaux and bourbon casks.
vinkwhisky.nl
Jenever and sopi
Jenever and sopi from Leerdam, with a Moluccan signature that took shape in the barracks of 1951.
barak51.com
Genever, gin and liqueur
Craft distillery in Weesp, housed in the Laurentius church, with Weesper Genever, Weesp Gin and Weespermoppen liqueur.
ankerweesp.nlFrequently asked questions
Only through the request form on this page. Making an appointment by telephone is not possible, because we want to assess your request first. After your request we get in touch and schedule an intake meeting together.
A quote is always bespoke here; there is no price list. After your request we first assess whether we can help you. If we can, we schedule an intake meeting to go through your product, volumes and planning. On the basis of that meeting we draw up the quote. Once agreed, we schedule production.
At Bottelaar you may always work on your own product yourself, to have it ready on time at lower cost. House rules do apply, to keep production safe and of good quality. We discuss this with you during preparation.
Making malt wine from grain costs more than producing with industrial alcohol. Most liqueur and spirits producers use cheaper industrial alcohol from sugar beet or molasses. Buying grain, preparing a mash and letting it ferment takes time and care, and then follow distillation and the work with tinctures. Most of the money ends up as excise duty for the tax authorities.
Production is paid in advance, so that making the drink is possible. It often also covers raw materials Bottelaar buys for you. The final payment on spirits, the excise duty, is settled on delivery by Bottelaar.
No, we work with businesses only. To draw up a quote you must be registered with the chamber of commerce. This has to do with excise duty, licences and the liability involved in producing drinks.
From 100 litres you can come to us to develop and make your creations. Larger runs up to medium volumes are of course also possible.
Production request
A quote is always bespoke here. After your request we first assess whether we can help you. If we can, we schedule an intake meeting to go through your product, volumes and planning. The quote follows from that. So fill in the form as completely as you can: the more specific your details, the sharper that conversation.
We work with businesses only. Registration with the chamber of commerce is a condition for us to draw up a quote.
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