What is Malört? Chicago's favorite spirit
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- Опубліковано 29 чер 2024
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Today we’re covering Chicago’s favorite spirit, Malört! Taking a shot of Malört is a Chicago rite of passage, and people love to hate it. With an aggressively bitter flavor, mixing with Malört is a fun challenge. I’ll share my original Malört drink recipe that I call the Forced Retirement. It’s bright, fruity, and of course, bitter. Cheers!
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TIME STAMPS
Intro: 0:00
History: 1:02
Tasting: 3:46
The Booze: 5:07
Recipe: 6:55
Sips & Sign Off: 8:03
THE FORCED RETIREMENT RECIPE 7:01
3/4 oz. (22.5 ml) Jeppson's Malört
1 oz. (30 ml) Beefeater London Dry Gin
1/2 oz. (15 ml) Campari
3/4 oz. (22.5 ml) passion fruit syrup
3/4 oz. (22.5 ml) fresh lime juice
3/4 oz. (22.5 ml) grapefruit juice
Pineapple fronds & cocktail umbrella for garnish
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Yay or nay on Malört?
My 21st is coming up in a few days, I'll comment back when i get the chance to try some!
🤢🤢🤮🤮‼️‼️
@@amytg777 Happy birthday! 🥂
Any time I have a get-together at my house, I have people do shots of Malort. I feel like I steal some of their power for myself every time this happens. Something about watching their faces go through the five stages of grief in a single moment makes me stronger.
Yay on Malort. It's not that bad. I just got a bottle of the Barrel-Aged Malort! Not bad either.
I went to college in Milwaukee and I believe my friends making me try Malort is why I moved back to the east coast after graduating.
Haha love this
Fellow Milwaukeean. You’re welcome back any time lol. We have more Malort.
lmfao
@@sparklesparklesparkle6318unlike everywhere else in the whole wide world, Milwaukee is suffering so bad from crime, yeah.
Milwaukee, Algonquin for "the good land"
To understand Malört you have to understand Swedish culture. During traditional festive holidays we usually get together for big dinners with lots of food and even more alcohol. At these feasts the most important alcohol is "snaps" which is basically spiced vodka. It is so important that it even have a ritual as part of drinking it. A lot of the food is very salted and fatty so some of the snaps needs big flavours and wormwood flavoured snaps is great with those salty and fatty foods. And for some people the taste for wormwood just stick and you grow to love it.
Excellent post Jonas, however you forgot the most vital part of traditional Swedish drinking culture, Svenska snapsvisor!
@@douglaspatrick868 you are 100% right.
Mallårtt…💀
Isn't rotten/fermented fish also on the menu?
@BrandXsps fermented herring is a traditional dish we eat every year from mid August to mid September. And it requires a lot of snaps and snapsvisor (shot songs). We also have the crayfish premiere every year from the beginning of August which require a lot of snaps and snapsvisor. And then we have midsommar when we eat pickled herring and drink a lot of snaps and sing a lot of snapsvisor and dance around a giant penis.
I was at a New Year's party in Chicago a few years ago and we came up with a terrible shot. Half Malort half Fireball. We called it "The Great Chicago Fire." It's as bad as it sounds but many were had that night.
Watched a buddy of mine take a half and half shot or Malory and giardiniera.
@@boi_mayor With a sport pepper garnish
Man, what a killer shot name. 🔥☠
Sounds devastating and by the end you're blaming a cow for all the mess.
That is a great name for a shot lol
Malort is not Chicago’s favorite spirit, it’s Chicago’s favorite prank.
I am half tempted to purchase a bottle of Malort just so that I can make a Forced Retirement to celebrate my forced retirement - but then I would be just as bitter as the spirit you are presenting.
Congratulations and/or condolences on your retirement
Swede here now living in America. Malort 100% is based of Swedish Besk / Bäsk / Beska Droppar. Popular midsummer spirit with aquavit and also a rite of passage and college hazing liquor. Tastes just as vile as malort.
Love your videos! Happy to see this featured. Was shocked first time I went to Chicago years ago and stumbled on this at the violet hour
A friend form Chicago was moving out of the country, at the going away party the drink I made for it used Malort. 1.5 once malort, 3/4 ounce lime juice, 3/4 ounce orgeat, 3 dashes bitters shake with crushed ice, dirty pour,(im lazy and wanted to save ice) top with 3 ounces grapefruit soda. I was surprised with how well received it was at the party. We called it Ted from Accounting. I've come to like malort.
Love the name! Thanks for sharing. Cheers
Too funny 😂
This is crazy!! My friends and I are visiting Chicago right now and we just shared our first ever "Chicago Handshake" (a shot of Malort followed by a pint of Old Style) at the Chicago Athletic Association! We also enjoyed a few drinks at Three Dots and a Dash last night. Love this city!
those are great places. If y'all are ever back in the area and want to try a more moody and lowkey place, Sparrow is my favorite bar for that.
@@sparklesparklesparkle6318sounds like someone needs a Chicago Handshake to brighten their day
it’s ninth in the country though so not really on outlier
@@sparklesparklesparkle6318 most of these statistics are screwed as they don't account for the increase of population :)
@@sparklesparklesparkle6318 ope, figured this was why you jumped in unasked and skewed info. Oh well.
Being swedish, besk is my favorite snaps with pickled herring. In Sweden the liquor besk (or bäsk that is the actual word bitter) is often a drink made yourself by putting a twig of wormwood, Artemisia absinthium, malört, in vodka and let it infuse 24 hours. There are literally thousands of variations with a tea spoon of honey, sugar and/or additional spices. I often finish of with half an ounce of whisky. Don't use smokey whisky; don't ont ask how i know 😊. Of course you can buy ready made Bäsk.
Making a drink is a first. Now off to the kitchen!
Many thanks for sharing the history and the recipe.
Bäska droppar rules🇸🇪
I was introduced to Malort around 7 years ago. I am in Tennessee and a friend had case shipped to him (probably wasn't exactly legal). For his 50th birthday he had many of us do a shot with him. He watched closely as all our faces contorted after the shot yet we still proceeded to have two or three more shots over the course of the evening. Since then several of us have acquired a taste for it. The past couple years we've been able to get it locally. "Malort... what soap washes its mouth out with!"
@sparklesparklesparkle6318 I love the taste of alcohol and while I do like Malort/Besk I know quite a few drinkers that don't
Yeah, it takes 3 and then then you start to like it. Or at least that’s how it went for me. If you just explain what it is people are more likely to be receptive. But it’s still a tradition to spring it on folks
I love how Oz always awkwardly dances into frame. It is adorable.
I love malort. I have typically used it by infusing other flavors into it, like pomegranate seeds, tarragon, pamelo skins, etc and then treat it like campari. Ie make a malort negroni or a malort soda. It's always super interesting and keeps the strong bitterness that I love!
Malört-based spirits is a common shot in Sweden still. Especially during public holidays and at universities (sort of forced as a rite of passage at first, then it grows on you). I'll definitely try your recipe - looks promising!
In the late 90's during my "Swedish college" years I consumed a fair amount of "Bäska Droppar". Still do!
Oz face after the half shot.... priceless 😂
I while ago my friend challenged me to make a cocktail with only 2 caveats: it had to include Malort, and it was going to be called "Chest Burster".
After sitting at their bar all night brainstorming here's what I landed on:
1.5oz Repesado tequila
0.75oz lime juice
0.5oz Malort
2 dashes Ango
2 dashes orange bitters
Shake and strain over ice
Top with Red Bull (specifically watermelon flavor)
Serve in a glass with a spicy rim, we went with tajin
I actually liked it quite a bit lol
I had to take a Tums after reading this comment.
Traditionally Woodworm is supposed to be harvested on August 24th, The Night of Bartholomew. The snaps made/flavored with Woodworm was to be had as a “digestive” when eating fat fish (primarily), but became popular as a bitter schnapps for all “grown ups” in Sweden. It’s still somewhat popular during traditional Swedish festivities, but it is an acquired taste on its own! 😇
hearing the cicada chorus at 8:22 to round out the chicago episode was 👌🏻
This channel is a gem
Happy weekend. Cheers
Thank you!!! 🙏🏼 Malort episode, finally. It’s bad but I keep coming back to it LOL A growing Chicago tradition. When you have out of town visitors it’s a must to give them customary shots of Malort
This is amazing timing; I just got my first bottle of Malört yesterday. I can already tell ill never forget that first tasting. Cheers?
A bit of a story. I LOVE Malort, but it did take some time haha! ANYWAY! As a Canadian when you come back from the USA you're only allowed to declare a certain amount of booze which I exceeded. When the Canadian boarder agent asked me what I was bringing back I said "2 bottles of bourbon and a bottle of Malort." the agent said "Malort? Why would you bring that terrible bottle back!" hahahahaha. Great video as always!
Clear Brandy flavoured with Malört is a classic at the Midsummer and Christmas dinner table in Sweden. We take it in shots togheter with fermented herring. Skål!!
I haven't had a drink in 38 years, but I can still vividly recall the taste of Malört ... definitely a Chicago rite of passage. I think I once described it as mixing Jägermeister with Chartreuse with a float of Angostura bitters (and perhaps a swirl around an ashtray - they used to have those in bars back when I was drinking).
Such a fitting name. The prefix “Mal-“ is from Latin meaning, "wicked, bad-natured," used in such phrases as, “malignant tumor,” and is why the villain in Sleeping Beauty is named, “Maleficent”
Love it when Az joins in, she’s got a great sense of humor 😅 cheers
I've got a Corpse Reviver #2 riff with malort that i've dubbed "the Lower Wacker" that i'm pretty fond of!
haha, I figured it fit well with a mix of corpse and malort@@dearmas9068
The extra day was well worth the wait for this one Anders!!! I've been trying to fit Malort into an equal part cocktail template (Paper plane, Corpse Reviver #2) with no success. Leave it to the man to pair it with Campari and sweeten it with passion fruit. Genius!
I would try gin+elderflower or gin+creme de banane and lemon
Thanks for the video neighbor. I haven't tried Malört yet , only lived in Chicago 34 years so no rush. I am a new comer to your channel but I am doing my best to watch all your videos. I love the evolution of Az only talking and sipping to now being on camera more, GO AZ! And I love when Az hands the glass back and it is half gone, good indicator she enjoyed the cocktail. I haven't see if you talk about what bar you worked but I have my guess.
I got Malort for my Dad this christmas because he always wanted to try it, I bought everything for the recipe too because he loves bitter cocktails. Thanks big man!!!!
Great video as always! Cheers
Anther great video! I've been waiting for the Malort episode! I was scared for a minute that Az wasn't going to taste the Malort, but was elated to see you both taste at the end there. 10/10 would watch again!
My first Christmas gift to my daughter’s new in laws was a cute little 6 pack of the mighty malort. To show my love for them.
Honestly the nights where my friends and I have taken shots of malort are always super happy memories, love the ritual, and specifically indoctrinating new friends into the joy of malort
Finally! The video we all needed!!
You literally make my heart soar! I would love to find you out and about in Chicago the next time I am there. Keep up the incredible content. Also, DEF buying some dope ass merchandise.
My grandpa calls his homemade schnapps for Malört. I've always thought of Malört as a spirit vecause of this haha!
Malort will always hold a place in my heart for mixing. Saw some people in a group I'm a part of making jokes about it, and I didn't know what it was...so I had to find out. Finally got a couple of 50ml to try it, and then I was later challenged to make something with it. Flash forward about a month, and I've got two cocktails that use it I really enjoy. One fruity and sweet (amazingly), and one focused on a Tex-Mex theme where I use it to aid in simulating the skin of a pepper. It's a difficult bottle, but one that's still got magic to it for sure.
Would love to hear the recipe for the sweet and fruity one
That was really fun! Thanks. May need to hunt down some Malört and give this a shot.
Love the creativity!
I was JUST talking about this like an hour ago! I am going to Chicago in December and plan to be initiated with a shot of Malort. Lol
The Forced Retirement-top points for the name.
The Bësk is really useful stuff.
I’ve used it in a white Negroni style drink along with gin, honey liqueur (Koval) and rose hip liqueur (also Koval).
We don't have Malört at my workplace in Chicago but I did have a customer suggest a shot of it in a glass of Stiegl and it hasn't left my mind since.
I took a bottle of Malort to a wedding reception a few months ago. It's been a long time gag with the groom and myself. Only the groom, the bride, and I had ever had Malort so it was a fun time pouring shots for 20ish people and knocking one back at the same time.
Had this for the first time at a friendsgiving at a local black metal bar. I knew generally what to expect but the first experience was certainly eye opening. By the end of the night, we had gone through three bottles, and the intense, almost acrid bitterness had grown on me. It reminds me a lot of some of the strong flavors you get from cannabis within the Diesel/Chem family tree. I love introducing people to Malort, the first time is always a trip
Such a great story about Malort, and a fantastic drink!!…Enjoy your weekend and as always CHEERS!🍹🍹😁😁
Thank you so much - happy weekend!
You officially made me want to have a shot of this. Thanks. 🤪
I worked with a guy from Chicago who shared his bottle with the kitchen crew. I love this stuff!
Delicious, I make my own besk in-house here in the old country, and I had a few drinks of it at a dinner not too many weeks ago
Left Chicago in 1977. The Old Style reference made me smile. That and PBR were the beers I drank at that time. Wrigley sold those and Hamms.
I love your profile mindset. I’d probably think very similar. Nice work man
Bought my first bottle of sloe gin today after your fizz video. Let the experimentation begin.
I feel like this has been a long awaited video. As one of your friendly neighbors to the north (Wisconsin), I remember being hazed by a Malort shot for the first time, but I must admit that I’ve developed a taste for it, especially in cocktails (one bar up here in Madison always has a Malort cocktail on the menu). Cheers!
I lived in Wisconsin for a decade, always felt like Malort was a prank drink, something you trick an unsuspecting friend into trying so you can laugh at the face they make😅
The look on Oz's (sp?) face was PRICELESS!
Tasting notes of Malort:
Grapefruit PITH and PineSol. And it's the gift that keeps on giving.
LOVED the reaction after the joint Malort shot!!! 😂😂😂
A friend of mine and I are going to Smarty Pants in Georgetown (Seattle) to get a shot of this soon!!
Oooooh this drink sounds delicious!! I think I would love it!!
That sound editing when Az was tasting was perfect.
Also to Az: you are a good sport!
In Sweden, we would have a shot (snaps), or two, for dinner at parties - especially our famous holidays. Sometimes singing songs. A favorite when it comes to this kind of spirit is "Piratens besk" (name after a Swedish author, nicknamed "The pirate").
I have tasted home-made "bäsk/besk" too. Some of the ones I have tasted have been pretty nice and balanced. Not that very bitter so that it causes revulsion. And if you do, just have another one! 🙂
9:08
Anders: it's pretty up front
Adz: nearly falls over
Perfect
Carl Jepsson, most definitely a Swedish immigrant that basically made "bäsk" in the US.
We had Laka Lono do their spin on this. Josh substituted Hart & Sons Blackpool for the gin and a dash of licorice bitters. He cut the lime to 1/2 oz. It is bitters forward in a great way and fires all the tastebuds.
Oz's reaction to the Malort shot sells the whole video!!!
TO THE BAR! ➡️🥃
I was just watching an episode of The Bear on Hulu & there was a big Malort sign above the restaurant. I’ve never heard of the stuff & now I’ve learned about it & I saw the sign. Things that make you go 🧐
I appreciate this channel.
Wow those Cicadas! I though that Chicago will be cold in September. Az, pretty glasses.
I don't recall the first time i had Malort, but do recall that it got less bad with subsequent tries until it became good.
I should look into if Few renamed their version of it to a Besk, as i recall liking that quite a bit more.
Was in Chicago for my birthday weekend a couple months ago, great food, amazing drinks, awesome music festival. One of my favorite moments though was having birthday shots of Malort with my wife and two friends.
Happy you enjoyed your birthday weekend in Chicago! Cheers
Lived my whole life in Chicago/suburbs and have NEVER tried it and only heard about it a couple years ago.
But the best description I’ve heard about Malort is that it tastes like the Junk Drawer. If you’re from Chicago area - you know exactly what that means.
So happy to see this! My kid is in a beer-league softball team in DC called... The Malort-y Sporties 😊
Your build here looks delicious and I can definitely attest to the unexpected combination of Malort and Campari. I used the two to hold in check outsized quantities of two violet liqueurs for a sour I created a decade ago that came out quite well.
Ultraviolet
------
1 1/4 oz Malort
1 1/4 oz Rothman & Winter Creme De Violette
1 oz Campari
3/4 oz Creme Yvette
1 oz Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice
Light shake and strain over large cube in a rocks glass. Garnish with a candied violet on steel cocktail pick.
Never tried it, but I love Pelinkovac, Croatian wormwood liqueur. That stuff is very sweet though, which balances out the bitter qualities.
Can't wait to make this 1!
i really appreciate you giving this oddball spirit an actual shot, but i feel the need to point out that unless mr. jeppson traveled back to sweden and marketed the stuff hard enough to retroactively integrate it into all our major holidays (in the midst of the discussion of our *own* prohibition), i see no evidence that he invented wormwood bitters. either he’s a time traveller or evil hypnotist cuz over here we’re all pretty sure it’s been around for a bit longer than the 20s
He didn't say he invented wormwood bitters
Grapefruit cocktails are outstanding. You should do a bit on the Third Man, one of my favorites.
And for those who don’t know, wormwood is the “active” ingredient in traditional absinthe that is supposedly responsible for its hallucinogenic property. Not sure if drinking Malort makes you crazy, but it’s said you have to be crazy to drink it. This recipe looks to be worth a go, however.
Cheers
yup....I did enjoyed this vid......at the end,thx
Very educational! Can you do a cocktail with Unicum? It is a Hungarian bitter herbal liqueur. I bet you could create a winner!
I live around Chicago, and I love Malört.
It's like engine cleaner for your stomach
The first time I had it, as a shot in Chicago, I thought I was drinking bile. The taste lingered for 2 days, but every subsequent time I had it, it tasted better. Now I crave it.
Swedish "besk" (Bäsk) is something we drink ice cold as a shot with pickled herring, strong hard cheese and dark spiced bread. We call that snaps, but it is not similar to the German version. Swedish snaps is usually really dry (basically only vodka and botalicals). The bitterness from most good Swedish bäsk is the same sort of feeling and flavor as the bitterness from hops, like in an IPA, but turned up to eleven. Haven't tried Jeppsons Malört so I can't say if it would pass on a Swedish christmas or midsummer table or if we too would find it kind of gross.
Thanks for taking the shit Az, priceless reaction!
malort is by far my favorite hard alcohol. i could easily sit and watch a movie or play a game and just have like 10 shots of the stuff (usually i do half or 2/3 shots of it) as long as i have a beer nearby for a chaser
It’s delicious…love the grapefruit notes.👍🏼
had my first shot of malort last night… wasn’t as bad as i was expecting but it lingers for longer than i’d prefer
the bitterness is excellent as a schnaps with fatty foods as eel, ham or pickled herring.
Az's facial expressions are worth the price of admission!
We just got distribution in Ohio! So excited to have Malort in easy supply!
Haha! Now I really want to go to Chicago to try the Malört there.
I was "gifted" a bottle of Malort a while back, and every so often I'll come back to it and try to make something tasty. Here's what I have scrawled from last time for a low ABV sipper - although it's been long enough that I couldn't even tell ya what it tastes like or how unbalanced it is: 1oz Lillet Blanc, 1/2oz dry curacao, 1/2oz St. Germain, 1/4oz Malort, 1/4oz 2:1 simple syrup, 1 drop orange blossom water, 2 dashes Angostura bitters, and a spritz of St George absinthe. I remember it worked pretty well in a dasher bottle when you want a lil extra bitterness added!
Sounds pretty tasty. Thanks for sharing!
I was about to move along to another video, but you had me with ".... hairspray"
I miss Chicago so much. I’ll be back one day.
Maybe the best 2 seconds of any Anders' video is Az's reaction: "It's kind of pretty up front" "Whaaa?"
New Challenge for you Anders: come up with a cocktail with Fernet and Malort as the stars. The bartender's dream :)
the reaction shot was everything 😂😂
My old roommate was from Chicago and got me to try it. I loved it (actually), though I describe it as tasting like bug spray.
I think it still is, at least it was when I studied ~10 years ago, a tradition at Chalmers University in Gothenburg, Sweden, that when you turn 23 years old you might randomly get a glass with 23cl Bäsk (Old Swedish Malört snaps) from your classmates. And then you have to finish that glass that day, quite generous actually. So either you sip it throughout or just down it to get rid of it :P
Weird! I have never heard of Malort before, and two random vids drop in my feed this morning about Malort! (The other one was John Lovett's Lovett it or Leave it video this morning.)
I brought a bottle of Malort with me to vacation in Seattle with me for some friends who lived there. I don't think I'll ever forget their faces when the first sip passed their lips.
I always learn something when watching your videos. Never knew this Malort thing even existed
If I recall correctly, over at How to Drink, Greg found Besk worse than Malört. My memory could be faulty.... but if not, it's interesting to see the divergence here!
And my wife hasn't forgiven me fully for bringing Malört into her life when we moved back to Chicago (well, *I* moved back. She was a first timer)