A large shipment of tequila was seized in Hamburg dock by customs officials in October acting on a tip-off from Mexican authorities.
Analysis both in Berlin and in Mexico determined that although the hooch had the correct alcohol volume of 65.1%, it was not tequila.
For that, it had to have been distilled from the blue agave plant which is predominately found near the actual city of Tequila in north-west Mexico.
The 25,000 litres all had to be destroyed. They were set alight on Thursday at a sewage treatment centre in Schleswig-Holstein.
Watching the proceedings were the Mexican ambassador to Germany as well as members of Mexico’s Tequila Regulation Council.
Burning off the spirits will provide energy for the centre's in-house heat and power station.
