CATZ: 240 years of botanical bravado
Our history From stomach bitters in Pekela to modern craft gin
1754 – 1780 | German roots, Groningen future
- Heiman Cohen Catz (1754-1841) left his hometown of Arolsen (Dld.) after a duel gone wrong and sought his fortune in peat-colonial Nieuwe Pekela.
- He opens a drugstore & spice shop there and begins – in the attic, in 49 vol. % alcohol – to draw a stomach bitters from secret herbs. The basic recipe of Catz-Elixer was born, later hailed as “the purest and healthiest stomach bitter in the world.”
1789 | Official start ‘Catz & Son of Pekela’
- 1789 counts as the founding year: the bitters go commercially into the region in small dropper bottles.
1810-1856 | Two generations refine & broaden
- Son Bernard H.Catz (1789-1887) perfected production, securing a formal distilling license in 1873 and winning several awards with Red & Green Pommerans elixirs.
- Bernard has his children both distill and trade; thus a double track is created: herbal drinks and botanical trade.
1857 | Catz Brothers, Groningen
- Grandsons Israel (1823) and Leon (1824) open in Groningen the firm Gebroeders Catz – a grocery and colonial goods store that rapidly grows into an importer of spices, southern fruits and oils.
1880-1914 | From local player to world trading house
- Branches in Rotterdam (1884) and Amsterdam (1899); prestigious warehouse De Eendracht on Groningen’s Eendrachtskade (1911).
- Meanwhile, great-grandson Salomon Catz (1839-1894) moves the liqueur distillery to the Damsterkade in Groningen (1894). The ‘Cats oet de Pekel‘ bitters win gold at international exhibitions.
1916-1930 | Global expansion
- New York office opens (1916); headquarters move from Groningen to Rotterdam (1917).
- Catz Java Trading Company in Batavia (1918) plus branches in Padang, Makassar and Teluk Betung – setting the stage for the spice trade from the Dutch East Indies.
- San Francisco Branch (1927) for California nuts & fruits.
- Advertising hit “Catz-Rotterdammer” – sparkling water with a splash of elixir – launched summer consumption in 1926.
1930-1960 | Glory time and cover
- Catz-Elixer becomes the bitter in gin and even appears in the cabaret song “De Sweepstake” by Louis Davids.
- After WWII, tastes shifted to young, neutral gin; the bitter miniature fell out of favor, but the spice business continued to flourish.
1969-1980 | Consolidation & vanishing point
- Koninklijke Nederlandsche Gist- en Spiritusfabriek (KNGSF) buys Catz & Zoon (1969); production moves to Henkes Verenigde Distilleerderijen in Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht.
- Around 1980, the elixir disappears; the recipe book disappears into Lucas Bols’ vault.
1982 | Trading House continues to grow
- Catz Brothers merges within listed Acomo group and today >turns over €300 mln in 80 countries as Catz International.
2015-2018 | Re-branding & renaissance
- Three Dutch spirits veterans rediscover the dormant brand name and decide to honor its botanical heritage with a gin of their own.
- 2018 – Launch CATZ Dry Gin 48.2%: a powerful small-batch London Dry, distilled in Schiedam, designed for pure sipping and iconic cocktails.
From red stomach bitters to crystalline dry gin
CATZ is not just a brand name: it is an ongoing thread of craftsmanship, spice loyalty and entrepreneurial spirit – for 240 years.
With CATZ Dry Gin, heritage returns to the glass, ready to conquer a new generation of aficionados
Catz-bitter became such a household word that well-known cabaret performer Louis Davids sang about it in 1931’s De Sweepstake. The song is about a certain Ome Arie from the Jordaan, who bet money on the horse races because a fortune teller promised him golden mountains if he bought a ticket now. He was so absorbed in his daydream that he went to bed with a horseshoe and a jockey’s cap. The neighborhood gossiped that he kept horses in his basement and was therefore an animal torturer. Tough guys wanted to intervene and bashed in the basement door, but found only a cat in heat. Uncle Arie had fled and drowned his fears in a café, where he downed one Catz bitter after another. There he was told he had won. But:
And when he was told he was rich as a prince
Then, partly out of fear and partly out of thirst
For seven light Catz’s and a piece of liver sausage
He had just given his fate to the pub owner.
First he turned white, then he turned red
Then he said ‘choke’, then he was dead.