Van der Hum, the Cape Liqueur

Van der Hum is a South African liqueur, known as the Cape liqueur.

It has distinctive tangerine (Naartjie) flavor. The liqueur is produced using brandy, wine distillate, tangerine peel, herbs, and spices. The mixture is then heavily sweetened with cane sugar. The colour is a deep golden amber and the aroma strongly citrus.

The Netherlands and France also produce citrus liqueurs.
Van der Hum probably started as a Cape version of Curacao before taking on a life of its own.

The Netherlands has Curacao. Made from the dried peel of bitter oranges from the Caribbean island of Curacao.

France has Grand Marnier. Made from the distilled essence of bitter oranges.

Having tried them all, Van der Hum is my favorite. It is the sweetness!
Van der Hum is so much sweeter than the others. If people find it too sweet, the advice is to add some brandy.

Recipe

In the early history of Van der Hum there were many variants, with people having their own recipe in the family cookbook.

In the book “I heard the old men say” by Lawrence Green, he records a recipe for Van der Hum on page 118 from the Myburgh family.

Peel 35 naartjies, cutup the skins and pour 6 bottles of brandy over the peel.
Add 1 1/2 oz. cinnamon, 17 cloves, 3 cardamon seeds and a pinch of stamped mace.
Allow the brandy to draw on the peels and flavouring for a fortnight in a closed container.
Then make a syrup of 5 lbs. of sugar to 2 1/2 bottles of water.
Boil for one hour.
When cool, strain the brandy and flavouring onto the syrup, mix well and bottle.

I will stick with the store bought versions.

Recommended (In moderation)