Two Times GOLD at GSMC
Grassroots wins 2x Gold at the highly respected Global Speciality Masters 2025 in the categories Botanical Spirits and Bitters/Amaro.
NOVEMBER 3, 2025 | LONDON
GRASSROOTS, the new ‘bootleg ginger’ bitter from Amsterdam, the Netherlands, has already struck gold less than two months after its launch.
During the reputable Global Spirits Masters’ (GSMC) Speciality Spirits Masters, GRASSROOTS has been awarded two Gold Medals — in both the Botanical Spirits and Bitters/Amaro categories.
Customs.
“GRASSROOTS has just taken root and is ripe for a serious place in the landscape of international spirits,” says founder Paul de Kuyper with a wink. The young brand’s early success came as a surprise. “We were simply curious how such a competition worked — and mostly wondered whether our tasting bottles would even make it through UK customs.”
Blind Tasting at the GSMC
The Global Spirits Masters (GSMC) is one of the world’s leading blind-tasting competitions for spirits. Participants from all corners of the globe send their bottles to London, where a panel of independent experts decides who takes home the medals. “Winning one gold medal is already an impressive achievement. But two in one edition is quite remarkable, and says something about the versatility of GRASSROOTS, I guess” — adds the founder.
“It’s a fusion of classic and modern. Rebellious and pure. A roaring ’20s product, to hit the pause on the hustle in a modern world”
— Anonymous Moonshiner
The Secret
GRASSROOTS is a modern herbal bitter. Its base is malt wine, a traditional product from the Lowlands and the basis of the centuries old Genever. This traditional product is enriched with several distillates with 28 classic herbs and spices, creating a balanced environment for the final ginger infusion and the alcohol (18%) to get smoothly wedded.
This was picked up positively by the Speciality Spirits Masters’ Jury members during their blind tasting in London, granting GRASSROOTS two gold medals, in the categories Botanical Spirits and Bitters/Amaro, and concluding with the following feature:
“pleasing and juicy ginger character”, and “green-garden herbal nose alongside a mix of lemon and lime juice and cordial”.
— the Speciality Spirits Masters 2025 Jury
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Photos: ©Colin Huijser (@colinhuijser)
Read the full GSMC 2025 results.
