PLANTINGA (BOEREN/FRIESCHE/34) / BOALSERT K.P. BEERENBURG
Plantinga Beerenburg was produced in Bolsward from 1870 until even after the sale of the Plantiac brand name to UTO in 1972. I witnessed some of its production during the First Plantiac Pilgrimage at the Stoombootkade in 1991. Its production was discontinued in 2001. In 2008 there were thoughts of re-introducing the brand, and in June 2009 that really happened. Due to the "Plantinga" name being a trademark, it was named "Boalserter 'KP' Beerenburg" (though 'KP' stands for Klaas Plantinga, which was also the local colloquialism for the much loved old drink). Beerenburg is a herb liquor (17 herbs soaked in gin/geneva) which bears no relevance to Plantiac whatsoever, least of all with regard to taste.
Currently, Boalsarter KP Beerenburg is produced in the Herman Jansen facility, distillery "De Tweelingh" in Schiedam. Around 1200 to 2400 1-litre bottles are produced each year, and it is distributed by a private group of three Beerenburg lovers - Johan van der Weide, Simon Hottentot and Jan Dijkstra. The best place to get it is Jumbo Bolsward/Slijterij Kooistra in Bolsward, the Netherlands (click here to email the owner). It is not yet available via the Internet.
Some lesser known but different Beerenburg types made by Plantinga were the Boeren Beerenburg, Friesche Beerenburg and 34 Beerenburg (so called because it had 34% alcohol content). These appear to have been relatively short-lived products.
Miniature (40 cc) bottle of Plantinga Boeren Beerenburg.
Miniature (40 cc) bottle of Plantinga Friesche Beerenburg.
Picture from drankminiaturen.nl.
Plantinga Friesche Beerenburg label.
Scan by Peter Mulder.
Miniature (40 cc) bottles of Plantinga 34 Beerenburg.
Left picture from Peter Mulder, right from Bastiaan Plantinga.
One litre bottle of Plantinga 34 Beerenburg, a larger version from the below advertisement.
Picture from geheugenvannederland.nl.
Plantinga 34 Beerenburg advert from 1974/1975.
Picture from geheugenvannederland.nl.
Plantinga Beerenburg bottle of unknown age. Found in a display case in the Sonneme Distillery during the Third Plantiac Pilgrimage.
Plantinga Beerenburg front label, probably from the 1960s/1970s.
Scan by Peter Mulder.
Plantinga Beerenburg front label, probably from the 1980s.
Scan by Peter Mulder.
The Beerenburg connoisseurs who tried (and succeeded) in getting Plantinga Beerenburg back on the market after an absence of nearly 8 years: Left to right Jan Dijkstra, Simon Hottentot and Johan van der Weide. Note the signature, which is not the Plantinga signature on any other products. Apparently this is a random signature :-)
Picture provided by Johan van der Weide - it's my scan of a newspaper article photocopy.
After too long an absence, Plantinga Beerenburg was re-introduced in 2008 as "Boalserter 'KP' Beerenburg". This was the originally intended new front label (notice presence of the name 'Plantinga' that was later discovered not to be allowed).
Picture provided by Johan van der Weide.
And this is the originally intended back label.
Picture provided by Johan van der Weide.
An original "banned style" 1 litre bottle.
Picture provided by Johan van der Weide.
After the design change (without the 'Plantinga' name), this became the new front label...
Picture provided by Johan van der Weide.
... and this is the back label. Note the first part of the bar code, 710631, which is the code for UTO/Herman Jansen and tells us it's still made by one of their affiliated companies.
Picture provided by Johan van der Weide.
And this is a 1 litre bottle.
Picture provided by Johan van der Weide.
Design of a 5 cc 'Cosmos' shot glass.
Picture provided by Johan van der Weide.
And this is an actual glass.
Picture provided by Johan van der Weide.