A deal is celebrated with a Schaepmannetje

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Perhaps you’ve already seen it: the ‘Schaepmannetje’. I’m not talking about a newest member of the family, but about an alcoholic beverage! I got a lot of questions about it (‘are you going to launch your own brand of alcohol, Eduard?’ and ‘What does an old jenever has to do with Tribes?’, and so on). Therefore, I thought it was time to explain a little!

 Around 1614 there was an Eduard (coincidence does not exist: the name is of course given to every firstborn son) who, in a long, ice-cold winter, was looking forward to his jenever. Unfortunately, the cold weather didn't allow him to get it from the gin merchant, so he decided - enterprising types as we've always been - to make some of his own. I wasn't there, but I can imagine that he had to make a few attempts before he had a perfect drink; and voilà: there was the Schaepman jenever! Just like other well-known jenevers, simply named after the family name. I honestly don’t think Eduard earned a lot of money with it, because the drink is not (yet) standing next to the Blankenheim and Bols, but he was smart enough to write down the 'secret recipe' and pass it on to future generations, who kept on making the drink from time to time.

That the Schaepmannetjes could appreciate a drink every now and then, became clear when my great uncle Hermanus Johannus Aloysius Maria Schaepman (Herman, but most of the time he was called Dr. Schaepman) spoke in the Lower House when the Drinking Act was discussed. Herman Schaepman was a Roman Catholic priest, Dutch poet, theologian and politician, and became the very first priest in the Second Chamber. He did a lot, and he enjoyed a lot of respect (if you encounter one of the many Dr. Schaepmanstreets in the Netherlands, they indeed refer to him, just like the statue in Tubbergen). But back to my story: Dr. Schaepman said on May 9, 1881, when the Drinking Act was discussed in the Chamber: ''I think I can assume that no one will see a shocking drink consumption in the use of two glasses of a strong drink per day''. And the Schaapmannetje was born: the synonym for 'second drink', and later even for a 'glass of jenever’ in general. By the way, here’s another fun fact: Blankenheim is our other family jenever, through grandmother Schaepman-Sterck. Sterck is the owner of Blankenheim, which family is extinct, so that recipe is also owned by the Schaepmannen.

In 2012 my uncle Kees Schaepman gave me a number of large boxes with items from the family. He was getting old (75) and I was very interested in our family history, so my garage was full. After I had taken a few items from the boxes I stumbled on a lot of documents, including, you can already see it coming: the traditional Schaepman jenever recipe! Curious about the taste, I had it stoked and I liked this drink so much that I took a second one. Suddenly I understood why Herman Schaepman advocated two drinks in 1881, and as a tribute to my great uncle, I renamed the Schaepman jenever to 'Schaepmannetje', developed a label and had a few bottles made.

 Two years ago, at the Mosselgala, every person present got a Schaepmannetje in their goodiebags and I got very nice reactions. The men and women in the real estate world simply love a drink, especially when there is something to celebrate, and so I got the idea that you should make a deal with a Schaepmannetje. Meaning two drinks!

And since I'm looking for the best Tribebuilder and the Best Team of Tribebuilders (company brokers) this year, I thought it would be appropriate to toast on a deal during the contest with a Schaepmannetje with those belligerent men and women!

Want to know more about the jenever? Next Sunday 18 April my brother, Herman Schaepman (he not only shares his initials with the original H.J.A.M., but he is also a priest!), can be seen in the show of Business Class where he will talk about the Schaepmannetje among other things!