Do you have another question? Here are the answers:

Again, how does it all work? In a nutshell: You send us a sample of your drink, our expert jury tastes and evaluates your product and then awards gold, silver and bronze medals. The registration and entry deadline for the next competition is January 24, 2025.

What happens after registration? As soon as we receive your product, we catalogue it. We check the name, product category and alcohol content. You will receive a confirmation of receipt.

How can I imagine the tasting? In the past, the international expert jury met in Berlin for a blind tasting. Since Covid, this has been decentralized: We fill all the drinks into numbered miniature bottles and send them to the jury members. The jurors enter their assessments in a database developed especially for us. This year, the tasting will take place from February 11 to 13, 2025.

What does the expert jury assess? Smell, taste, balance, visual appearance and typicity are judged. A maximum of 100 points can be achieved. Our jurors taste “blindly”: they know the category of the product and the alcohol content, but do not know which product and which producer stand behind.

What is evaluated exactly? Criteria with different impact are included in the evaluation: visual appearance (maximum 5 points); nose (clean aroma [7 points], typicity [5 points], balance aroma/alcohol [14 points]); palate (clean aroma [8 points], typicity [5 points], balance aroma/alcohol [16 points]); overall opinion (40 points). Each product is assessed individually – i.e. not in comparison with other products. In addition, the jurors give a written evaluation.

How do you get a medal? Gold is awarded to all products with more than 93 points, silver requires 87 points and bronze 80 points. So there can be several gold, silver and bronze medals.

What other awards are there? The title “Best in Class” goes to the product with the highest score within each category. The “Craft Spirit of the Year” award goes to the winner who scored the most points of the entire competition. The special award “Craft Distillery of the Year” in bronze, silver and gold goes to the distilleries with the most medal points. The counting principle is: Best in Class = 5 points, Gold = 3 points, Silver = 2 points, Bronze = 1 point. To become a member of the “World’s Best Craft Distilleries”, producers must win three gold medals within three years.

When and how will I receive the results? The winners will be announced at the award ceremony on March 1, 2025 in Berlin. All attending manufacturers will receive their certificates and medal stickers on site. On March 2, 2025 the medal winners will be published on our website. Winners who cannot attend the awards ceremony will receive their awards by post. We will directly send the score card and the written assessment to you by email from March 3, 2025.

How much is the participation? There are reduced prices until November 30, 2024: The first product submitted costs 195 euros. A second and third product will cost 150 euros each. The fourth and all further submissions cost 95 euros each. From December 1, 2024 until the submission deadline on January 24, 2025 the registration fees are: 215 euro/165 euro/95 euro. – That’s all. There are no hidden additional costs.

What do I get for the money? All award-winning beverages receive a certificate as well as 50 medal stickers. Each submitted product will get a written evaluation by the jury. And to get to know each other in person, all producers will receive two free tickets to the festive awards ceremony on March 1, 2025 in Berlin. To all winners who cannot attend the event we will send the certificates and medal stickers by post.

Further questions? Write to info@craftspiritsberlin.de. We will answer immediately.