Wajos Raspberry Balsam. One-third raspberry juice on white wine vinegar, mild and fruity-sweet – the fruit vinegar that stays light and tastes like berries.
Wajos Raspberry Balsam is a vinegar preparation made from white wine vinegar with 33.8 percent raspberry juice from concentrate and sugar, with 5.3 percent acidity, 250 ml from Dohr on the Moselle. Not a balsamic from Modena, not a dark crema, not a raspberry syrup, but a light fruit vinegar with significantly more acidity than the cremas. Vegan.
Raspberry Balsam from Wajos is the bottle for everyone who likes the sweet cremas but sometimes wants a vinegar that actually tastes like vinegar. The cremas are dark, thick, and sweet with three or four percent acidity. The Raspberry Balsam is light, red, and has 5.3 percent – enough to make a leaf salad taste fresh instead of like dessert. Added to this is one-third raspberry juice, which softens the vinegar. For us, it is the best-selling Wajos vinegar outside of the cremas. Many customers keep it on the shelf next to the Fig-Date Crema: one for cheese and dark sauces, the other for green salads.
Raspberry in the front, white wine vinegar in the back, sweetness in between
When opened, the balsam smells of raspberry, almost like jam, and tastes that way at first, too: fruity, red, sweet. Then comes the white wine vinegar, clear and slightly vinous, giving the whole thing the acidity that defines a vinegar. At 5.3 percent, it sits between a mild wine vinegar and the Wajos cremas. The balsam is significantly more acidic than a crema, but never harsh in the nose like a spirit vinegar.
Honestly, it is sweet: 42 grams of sugar per 100 milliliters, from raspberry juice and added sugar. That is less than most cremas, but far more than a classic vinegar. Two tablespoons are enough for a bowl of salad, making the dressing fruity rather than sticky. The balsam also contains natural flavoring and potassium metabisulfite as an antioxidant, meaning sulfites – those who pay attention to this should be aware.
For those looking for the dark, caramel depth of a balsamic from Modena, the balsam is not suitable – in that case, the Fig-Date Crema is the right bottle. And anyone expecting a tart, unsweetened raspberry vinegar, like those made by some vinegar producers from fermented berries, will clearly taste the sugar here.
For green salads, goat cheese, beetroot, and dessert
The classic is the leaf salad: lamb's lettuce, butterhead lettuce, or a young leaf mix, two tablespoons of balsam, three tablespoons of oil, salt. The dressing turns pink and tastes like berries, and the salad leaves remain fresh. With walnuts, a few fresh raspberries, and goat cheese, it becomes the salad we make most often in the summer. Mustard and honey stay in the cupboard – the balsam brings sweetness and acidity together.
It goes better with beetroot than almost anything else: cooked sliced beetroot, balsam, oil, a little horseradish or fresh goat cheese. A cucumber salad with dill also becomes different with Raspberry Balsam – fruitier, less sharp. And coleslaw with apple gains the fruitiness it otherwise lacks with a dash of balsam.
Warm, it works in light sauces: a tablespoon in the pan after removing the chicken breast or pork tenderloin, reduce briefly, and thicken with cream or butter. It is too light and bright for game – that is what the dark cremas are made for. Over vanilla ice cream, panna cotta, or a bowl of strawberries, a few drops are the dessert for people who know vinegar on strawberries and want to double down on the berry.
The balsam is not suitable for pickling vegetables or for dishes that cook for a long time: the raspberry gets lost, the sugar remains. Always add it only at the very end. And for a dressing for tomato and mozzarella, we prefer something darker – the raspberry feels out of place with tomato.
Our tip: Two tablespoons of balsam, three tablespoons of Lemon on Olive Oil, a pinch of salt – the dressing we put on every salad with goat cheese and nuts when the Fig-Date Crema would be too heavy.
A vinegar from a family that has been working with wine for 15 generations
White wine vinegar as a base is a natural fit for Wajos. Behind the brand is the Oster family from Ediger-Eller on the Moselle, winemakers for 15 generations. Walter Josef Oster, whose initials form the name Wajos, opened a liqueur manufactory next to the winery in the 1980s. His son Peter Oster and business partner Ulf Schwichtenberg built the brand from this starting in the 2000s, with headquarters in Dohr near Cochem, the first own store in 2008 in Trier, and today shops all over Germany.
The family business carries around 900 items, over 80 people work in Dohr, and most products are created there – the fruit vinegars and cremas are among them, tested in their own laboratory. Those who know wine also know vinegar: white wine vinegar under the raspberry is the product closest to a winery, and the fruit is added as juice, supplemented by natural flavoring. "Controlled smaller work" is what Wajos calls its principle – better fewer varieties that are just right.
The vinegar for salad eaters, for the summer, and for people who find cremas too sweet
The balsam is the bottle for everyone who eats salad every day. It brings fruit into the dressing while still letting it remain a dressing. Those who prefer it to taste more like dark berries will find a second variety based on white wine vinegar in the Black Elderberry Balsam; those who like it thick and sweet should take the cremas. All vinegars and cremas are on our Wajos page.
Stored in a dry, cool place away from light, the bottle lasts a long time; 250 milliliters is enough for about two months of daily use at two tablespoons per salad. As a gift, it is the perfect souvenir for a friend who always makes her salad with the same vinegar – light, red, with a label that stands out on the shelf. The balsam is not suitable for those who avoid sulfites or for those looking for a low-sugar vinegar.
Raspberry juice on white wine vinegar, light and fruity – the vinegar from the Moselle that we recommend for green salad when balsamic would be too dark.
