Bols Creme de Cassis

Bols is one of those drinks brands that’s been around for so long it makes most breweries look like they opened last Thursday. Founded in Amsterdam in 1575, Bols proudly claims to be the world’s oldest distilled spirits brand, which honestly feels both wildly impressive and slightly intimidating. While the company produces everything from genever to vodka, it’s the colourful liqueurs that most drinkers know best, especially if they’ve ever stood behind a cocktail bar wondering why literally every classic recipe seems to involve Triple Sec at some point.

The Bols range is enormous and gloriously unapologetic about it. Blue Curaçao, Peach Schnapps, Crème de Cassis, Elderflower, Banana, Coffee, Watermelon — if someone somewhere once had the idea “what if this existed as a liqueur?”, there’s a decent chance Bols already made it several centuries ago. Despite the bright colours and cocktail-bar reputation though, there’s proper history and craftsmanship behind the brand. Amsterdam’s long trading history gave Bols access to exotic spices, citrus peels and botanicals from across the world, helping shape the hugely varied flavour range that still defines the company today.

What makes Bols especially enduring is how central it remains to cocktail culture without feeling overly trendy or self-serious. These aren’t spirits trying desperately to become luxury collectibles with wax seals and mysterious Viking backstories. They’re built for mixing, experimentation and making drinks taste good. Which, when you think about it, is a wonderfully sensible business model.

There’s also something charmingly old-school about Bols still thriving after nearly 450 years while cocktail trends endlessly come and go around it. One minute everyone’s obsessed with molecular foam and smoked pineapples, the next they’re rediscovering classics from the 1920s, and through it all Bols just quietly keeps supplying bartenders with bottles of suspiciously blue liquid. Respect honestly.