New packaging revives old drinking ritual

Sambuca con mosca is an Italian anise liqueur speciality which has a long tradition. Enjoying Sambuca follows a ritual which, according to legend, came into being many centuries ago.

At that time, an elderly lady used to serve her home-made Sambuca to her family. Lured by the sweet flavour, three flies always sat down on the rim of the glass when she was pouring the drink. So the lady came up with the idea of serving her Sambuca with three coffee beans. To be assured that the “flies” were really dead, the Sambuca was lit before drinking. This ceremony has been practised to this day. Lighting the drink produces an additional effect: the raw beans get roasted in the burning Sambuca within seconds.

Kavo by greiner packaging and Krugmann have worked closely together and developed a packaging solution which integrates all the ingredients used for the Sambuca drinking ritual. The bottle in a bottle consists of two PET bottles. The inner bottle holds 0.7 litres of Sambuca and the outer bottle offers space for the coffee beans. The coffee beans can be taken out through an opening which has been stamped into the bottle wall and decorated with a label. A book of matches which hangs around the neck can be used to light the anise liqueur.

The Sambuca bottle perfectly harmonises with a range of innovative packaging projects brought to life together by kavo by greiner packaging and Krugmann. Among the most popular ones are Popsy, the cheeky, litttle cream liqueur, Caipirinha or Schneegestöber (in English: Snowstorm). Krugmann’s roots go back to 1867, when the Krugmann family opened up their distillery in Meinerzhagen. Since its foundation, it has been operating from the same headquarters and stands out through great flexibility and innovative force. In 2004, Krugmann was the first spirits producer in Germany to market its products in PET bottles.