Christoph Keller has turned the “Stählemühle” into one of the most innovative fruit brandy producers in the world, and exclusive herbal distillates are used by the best chefs in the world: top chefs clamor for his exclusive herb distillates. He is an expert in condensing aromas and refining the ability to savor.
bulthaup: Mr. Keller, why are you calling your fine fruit brandy distillery experimental?
Christoph Keller: At Stählemuhle, it’s all about sensory experiences. We distill all kinds of things and we capture their aromas. We experiment, for example, a lot with herbs form our large garden. Our goal is to transfer herbs into single-source distillates, not for drinking or digestives, but rather as an aroma additive in cooking.
bulthaup: To appreciate such fine products require highly trained palates. Is this the reason that sensory organizes seminars?
Christoph Keller: Yes, sensory seminars aim to sensitize people for distillates. Working with fruits or herbs represents an excellent opportunity to discover a huge spectrum of aromas.
bulthaup: How do the training courses work?
Christoph Keller: First transmit basic knowledge such as the stone fruits or “drupes” always contain a touch of bitter almond, which can be deduced that all distilled with a note of bitter almond necessarily come from a drupe. At the same time we open new sensory perspectives, for example lavender. Almost everyone associated lavender to a perfume or a closet freshener, but few knows that has a fantastic flavor. Lavender flowers dissolve well in sauces and can be used as distillates.

bulthaup: Do you also learn anything about the art of refining?
Christoph Keller: Of course. We explain the process using specific examples. Let’s take vodka combined with raspberries, for example. The vodka, being a neutral alcohol, takes up the aroma of the raspberries. This produces a starting schnapps that the aromas produced by distilling are much more refined, more elegant and much sharper. There are no oily, earthy, blunt aromas- they are eliminated by the distilling process. In the art of aromas, this means reaching a higher level with very pure flavors.        .

bulthaup: And aside from the theory?
Christoph Keller: The culmination of these sensory seminars usually a blind tasting with very interesting results. Sensory sensitivity of people is very diverse. The women are better than men; the young, better than older people; and nonsmokers, better than smokers … of course, always speaking in general terms. There are also extreme differences in people’s sensory training levels.

Christoph Keller.Staehlemuehle