The spirit Absinthe, also known as the "Green Fairy", which made the world a little more colorful from Paris to New Orleans during the Belle Époque, fascinates us today as much as it did more than 20 years ago when we founded ALANDIA. Absinthe is an incredibly versatile spirit with an incomparable variety of flavors combined with a unique drinking ritual. Added to this are the fascinating stories surrounding the Green Fairy, which primarily refer to the golden age of the turn of the century. But before we get too carried away with fascination here, let's get back to our story...
We have been supplying the Absinthe Community since 2001
We founded our Absinthe store in 2001. Since then, we have developed into one of the world's leading online shops for Absinthe and Absinthe Accessories. Over 30,000 absintheurs trust us; our Absinthe community on Facebook already has over 15,000+ fans, and over 7,000 absintheurs follow our posts and stories on Instagram. In our store, we focus on particularly high-quality and original Absinthes. You won't find Absinthes that you might buy from your local dealer (or REWE, EDEKA, ALDI and LIDL) here. Unfortunately, these are more mass-produced than original. Shortly after our founding, we decided to become active in the market not only as a retailer but also as a manufacturer. What was available on the market at the time did not meet our expectations in many respects, so we soon developed traditional Absinthes in cooperation with renowned distilleries under the ALANDIA Spirits brand.
The ALANDIA Spirits range now includes more than ten different Absinthe brands, two gins, and two Cologne liqueurs. ALANDIA Absinthes include, for example, ALANDIA Verte (ISW Gold Medal Winner 2023), Heritage Verte (Concours de Lyon Gold Medal Winner 2026, Craft Spirits Awards Gold Medal Winner 2026, ISW Silver Medal Winner 2023), Moulin Vert (Concours de Lyon Gold Medal Winner 2026, Craft Spirits Awards Gold Medal Winner 2026), Strong68 (Concours de Lyon Gold Medal Winner 2026, Craft Spirits Awards Silver Medal Winner 2026, ISW Silver Medal Winner 2025), République, Époque (Grand Gold Medal Frankfurt Trophy 2026 and Gold at Concours de Lyon 2026), or Maison ALANDIA (Gold Medal Craft Spirits Awards 2026 and Concours de Lyon 2025).
The portfolio ranges from strong Absinthe to particularly authentic and complex Absinthe varieties. In our opinion, Absinthe is not only a versatile spirit but also an expression of culture and lifestyle. Stylish enjoyment, one could also describe it this way, is our top priority. Accordingly, at ALANDIA, in addition to real Absinthe, you can buy high-quality accessories. For example, elegantly decorated stainless steel absinthe spoons, traditional Absinthe glasses, or beautiful Absinthe fountains. Here, too, we do not only act as a retailer but also produce our own particularly high-quality accessories under the ALANDIA Barware label. Most of these are reproductions of antique originals.
The ALANDIA Founding Story
Once upon a time...
Many stories begin this way, and so does the ALANDIA founding story. In 2000, my best buddy and I were planning our summer vacation. Since we don't have beaches in Germany, or at least the water isn't that warm, we decided to go to Spain. Our destination was the beautiful island of Mallorca in the Mediterranean. It's famous for its wild nightlife and is considered THE vacation island for Germans. A month later, we were on the plane, shorts packed and ready for some adventures...
After a few lovely days on the island, we decided to rent a car and drive around. Mallorca has a lot to offer. The capital, Palma de Mallorca, has a beautiful cathedral called "Sa Seu," which Frédéric Chopin once said was the most beautiful he had ever seen. On our drive around the island, we also passed a bar with an advertisement outside: Absenta 1000 Pesetas. Absenta, Absinthe, I thought aloud. That's the drink of the 19th century. Typical associations with van Gogh came to mind. I had already read several articles in the German press, as Absinthe had just been legalized in Germany, so I told my buddy, let's stop and buy a bottle!
After a pleasant conversation with the owner of the store, we were the proud owners of our first bottle of absinthe! We wanted to open the bottle immediately but decided to wait until night to experience the Green Fairy in the right way. We served our first absinthe with water and sugar. The experience was intense, although in retrospect, the absinthe wasn't the best. But that didn't matter; we had drunk Absinthe for the first time with the Green Fairy, that's all that counted. For the rest of our vacation, the Green Fairy was our close companion. And yes, on our return flight, we had several bottles of the Green Fairy in our luggage. But it took another vacation to finally start with ALANDIA...
The Cathedral of Palma de Mallorca
From a Bar in Salamanca to the first Absinthe Store
In spring 2001, I decided to go on holiday to Salamanca to improve my Spanish. As you may know from your own experience, after a few hours of studying, you need some mental relaxation. My language school friends suggested we go to "La Chupiteria," a bar that mainly sold shots (chupitos). Since Absinthe was never banned in Spain, they also had Absinthe on the menu. Needless to say, we had a pretty good time – I had finally fallen in love with the Green Fairy. And on my way back, I had a few bottles of Absinthe in my luggage again...
The trunk full of Absinthe
Back in Germany, my friend and I did some market research and found that a few Absinthe brands were already available via the internet. On eBay a couple of pioneers were selling some "mouthwash" Absinthe (Pere Kermann) and in my local wholesale store they had Tabu Absinthe on the shelves. I must admit, in the beginning you drank everything, so strong was the hype around the new drink. As I had always been interested in using the World Wide Web, I decided to create an Absinthe page. It should be dedicated to our beloved drink. After a couple of days of creative Absinthe sipping, a name was found: ALANDIA. Seven letters, like the word Absinthe and because of the alliteration, easy to remember. Furthermore, the word "LAND" was included in the name, which matched our brand mantra "World of Absinthe". A simple online shop was uploaded, and we started offering Absinthe. The year is now 2001...
Our first Logo
As my friend and I still had to finish our studies, everything at the beginning was just fun, combined with the opportunity to further indulge our new love for the Green Fairy. Our "warehouse" and "logistics center" was the basement of our student-shared apartment. The rooms were full of Absinthe bottles and Absinthe accessories. I even had my own bar in my bedroom; the Green Fairy was literally everywhere. We started organizing Absinthe parties and convinced our friends to join our new passion. That was the beginning of ALANDIA, the year was 2001, the rest is history...