Dr. Jagla’s Herbal Elixirs from a Wuppertal Pharmacy Tradition
Dr. Jaglas is the brand of the Jagla pharmacist family. For generations, the family has been producing herbal elixirs in the Park-Apotheke in Wuppertal based on a monastery recipe, which Dr. Christina Jagla later turned into a company in Berlin. Today, the range includes bitters, gin, and non-alcoholic aperitifs.
Dr. Jaglas stands for herbal specialties that come from the pharmacy, not the marketing department. The foundation is a 15th-century monastery pharmacy recipe that father and daughter still prepare by hand together to this day. Two locations are central to the story: Wuppertal, where the recipe is at home, and Berlin, where Christina Jagla founded the brand at the end of 2015.
From Silesia via Wuppertal to Berlin
The story does not begin in a pharmacy, but in a colonial goods store in Silesia.
That is where great-grandfather Max Jagla served a herbal elixir to friends and family, long before anyone thought of selling it. What goes over counters in bottles today was simply what was in the house whenever guests arrived.
Later, the pharmacy adopted the recipe. Helmut Jagla, a fourth-generation pharmacist, still runs the Park-Apotheke in the Elberfeld Luisenviertel district of Wuppertal today – and it was he who added regional artichoke leaves to the traditional herbal infusion in the late 1960s. Thus, the Artichoke Elixir was born, which remains the heart of the range to this day.
His daughter Christina studied pharmacy, earned her doctorate, and worked in the family pharmacy. The herbal specialties were meant to go beyond the Bergisches Land region, says Christina Jagla regarding her decision to start her own company in Berlin at the end of 2015. Since then, the elixirs have continued to be prepared together with her father in Wuppertal.
Bitters, Gin, and non-alcoholic aperitifs
The range is divided into three lines, all based on the same herbal "handwriting."
The elixirs are the foundation. All have 35% vol and over thirty botanicals, but they differ in one defining ingredient: The Artichoke Elixir is the cleanest and slightly green in its bitterness, the Golfers Ginseng Elixir is the roundest with a liquorice note, and the Maca Ginseng Elixir is the earthiest with a nutty finish.
It is a regular surprise during the first tasting that three bitters based on the same basic recipe can taste so different. Gentian, centaury, cardamom, ginger, cinchona bark, bitter orange peel, cinnamon bark, clove, lavender, valerian, and a hint of saffron form the framework for all three – the eponymous ingredient merely shifts the emphasis. That is exactly what makes comparing them side-by-side so rewarding.
In addition, there are two milder liqueurs. The Apple Mallow Elixir with 25% vol combines apple, mallow blossom, and star anise and goes perfectly over sorbet. The Mulled Wine Herbal Elixir with 28% vol is the concentrated answer to mulled wine and is released only as a winter edition.
From the juniper corner comes the Gin Seng with 50% vol, the recipe of which is based on the Spiritus Juniperi from the German Pharmacopoeia of 1872. All elixirs are also available as 50 ml miniatures for sampling.
The third line contains no alcohol at all. Herber Hibiskus, San Limello, San Pompello, and San Orangello are aperitif bases for mixing; there are also two ready-to-drink spritz varieties and two non-alcoholic mulled wines, each based on dealcoholized wine from the Rheingau winery Leitz.
Pharmacopoeia quality and manual cold maceration
What separates Dr. Jaglas from other herbal liqueurs is not the recipe, but the handling of the raw materials.
The origin, purity, and content of every herb delivery are defined according to the specifications of the Pharmacopoea Germanica, the old German Pharmacopoeia. This is the same standard that a pharmacy applies to medicinal drugs – an effort that is unusual in spirit production.
Preparation is done cold and in tiny batches, just as Helmut Jagla has maintained in the dispensary for decades. Roots, barks, and blossoms steep without the addition of heat because, while heat releases bitterness faster, it also drives out the fine notes. The infusions then mature over weeks to months before being bottled.
This detour is the real work behind every bottle. A herbal extract can be forced in hours with heat and pressure, leaving it tasting flat and one-dimensionally bitter. The cold method takes weeks, but it captures those subtle tones that make a bitter linger for minutes instead of vanishing after a swallow.
Bitter substances have always been the house's specialty, says Christina Jagla, explaining her own background. You can tell by the products: even the sweeter liqueurs and non-alcoholic aperitifs have a bitter or sour counter-voice that protects them from being ordinary.
Caramel color, artificial dyes, and preservatives never go into a bottle. The amber color of the bitters comes from the herbs themselves, the red of the non-alcoholic aperitifs from hibiscus blossoms, and the rosé of the grapefruit aperitif from sweet potato and carrot. The elixirs are also lactose-free, and the non-alcoholic line is additionally vegan and gluten-free.
Awards and a three-star table
The elixirs found attention outside the Bergisches Land region early on.
The Artichoke Elixir, Maca Ginseng Elixir, Apple Mallow Elixir, and Gin Seng have been awarded by Gault&Millau. At the Internorga Future Award, Dr. Jaglas was a finalist in the "Trendsetter Product" category.
The quality is especially proven by those who use the elixirs. Christina Jagla developed a custom recipe for the Berlin restaurant Rutz, which holds three Michelin stars – this collaboration resulted in the Mulled Wine Herbal Elixir, which is released every winter as a limited batch.
Two further products were created as special editions for the weekly newspaper DIE ZEIT: the Maca Ginseng Elixir and the Apple Mallow Elixir. Both were initially available there for only a few weeks and remained in the range due to popular demand.
For the Maca Ginseng Elixir, the occasion is even printed on the packaging. The slogan Ad Multos Annos ("for many years") alludes to the two roots that give the bitter its name – a greeting that suits a drink that one doesn't empty in one go.
The range of this recognition is remarkable. It extends from expert juries to star-rated gastronomy and a newspaper editorial team that had an elixir bottled for its readers. For a company that emerged from a family pharmacy in the Bergisches Land, this is a remarkable path.
Where to start
Anyone who wants to get to know the brand has two sensible entry points – depending on whether you want alcohol to be involved.
For the bitter side, the Artichoke Elixir is the right place to start, because that is where it all began. Try it after a meal with an espresso or, surprisingly, with oysters. If you prefer to start small, take one of the 50 ml miniatures and put two of them side-by-side for comparison.
For the non-alcoholic side, the Aperitif Trio with all three varieties is recommended. After that, you will know whether you prefer citrusy, floral, or bitter – and you will have enough on hand to serve guests without anyone having to go without.
As a gift, the elixirs work particularly well because they require explanation without being complicated. The large bottles come in a gift box, the miniatures fit into any advent calendar, and for those who don't want to make a mistake, reach for the artichoke – the bitter with which the family history began.
If you would like to look around further, you will find comparable bottles in our Aperitif category and among the non-alcoholic spirits. For the perfect measure, there is the matching pourer and the tasting glasses, designed with the same workshop logic. Try them out.
