Becherovka is a Czech brand of herbal liqueur, produced in Karlovy Vary by the Jan Becher Company and founded in 1807. The brand is owned by Pernod Ricard Group.
Famous for its peculiar and unique taste and particularly popular during the cold winter months, Becherovka is also hailed for its medicinal properties and is used to smooth digestion problems. This liquor with a rich history has been produced since 1807, and during the times of socialist Czechoslovakia, it was a major export commodity. Today it is one of the world’s most popular bitter herbal liqueurs and definitely the most famous alcoholic beverage native to the Czech Republic, after beer, of course.
Becherovka herbal liqueur has been made for many years from several natural herbs and spices based on the famous thermal water from Karlovy Vary. The drink was originally positioned as a medicinal drink: people came from far and wide to buy this magical tincture for stomach ailments. Already during the First World War, the tincture conquered Europe, Turkey, and Egypt, and a little later (after the end of Prohibition) – the USA and Great Britain.
Another peculiarity of the brand is that only two people in the world know the exact composition of Becherovka, all these years it was passed on in the Becher family through the male line. And the original recipe of the drink was presented to the founder of the brand, Josef Vitus Becher, by Christian Frobrig, the personal pharmacist and doctor of Prince Maximilian von Plettenberg.
The Becherovka logo resembles a medical label – a yellow rectangle framed in black with blue lines on its top and bottom.
The upper line is where the brand’s name is written, in its strict white serif. As for the second logo element – the Jan Becher’s signature – it’s on the bottom blue line, executed in silver and has a red round emblem with 1807, a year of its establishment.
Before the brand’s redesign the red icon had a JP monogram on it. Now it’s located in the middle of the label, on a yellow background.
From first sight, the Becherovka’s logotype is written in one of the most commonly used sans-serif typefaces and has nothing unique in its design. But when you look at the contours and lines of its bold letters, you realize that the font is special and was designed exclusively for the brand. The open contour of the “B”, the small upper part of the “R” and diagonal cuts of the “E” bars — there all are the added details of the typeface, which is probably based on Bebas Neue or Bellfort Draw Dark fonts.
The white inscription is set on a blue background, and this color combination looks bright yet strong and serious. It evokes a sense of responsibility and trustworthiness, and at the same time makes the brand’s labels look modern and cool on the shelves of the supermarkets.