ROB SY DOR / DIGITALL AT TE .COM
AQUAVIT
Viking types drink it, and
they kick ass
By Camilla Mortensen
W
hen I was teething as a baby my mom put aquavit on my gums to soothe
the pain. Maybe that’s when I developed a taste for the vodka-like, herb-
fl avored spirit.
Danes down aquavit — usually called “snaps” — like it’s medicine. Bellow a toast,
bang an elbow on the table a couple times and pour it back. Eat some pickled fi sh; drink
some beer; repeat.
The liquor connoisseurs at Izakaya Meiji, where I recently encountered the Oregon-
made House Spirits Krogstad Aquavit, say that perhaps the reason Danes gulp their
aquavit, instead of serving it in stemmed glasses and sipping the icy liquid more gently, is
because Danish aquavit isn’t very good. They gave a thumbs-down to the Swedish stuff
too. Norwegian aquavit, they assure me, is the way to go.
Aquavit is from the Latin for “water of life,” in case you were wondering how seriously
Scandinavians take drinking. The herbs that fl avor it are said to be medicinal. Caraway is
good for your digestion. Star anise, a licorice-fl avored herb, is used to fi ght swine fl u. Dill,
coriander and cardamom are also used.
Elliot Martinez, a bartender at Meiji and popularly known as the editor of Booze Week,
served two aquavits on a “fl ight night” in February, paired, as they should be, with fi sh —
locally produced white anchovies. Linie Aquavit is made in Norway, crosses the equator
on a ship, twice, and is aged in sherry casks, Martinez says.
Krogstad, however, is made here in Oregon, and according to eponymous maker
Christian Krogstad, it’s the number-one selling aquavit in the state, beating out Aalborg,
a popular Danish aquavit. While I defer to the encyclopedic beverage knowledge of the
gurus behind the bar at Meiji, I argue that you fi rst have to taste Aalborg’s Jubilaeums
Aquavit before you write off Danish snaps entirely. Dill, coriander and a hint of star anise
fl avor this golden-hued drink, and beating its sales in a state liberally sprinkled with Nordic
types is no easy task.
“My family is Norwegian, I grew up with not only aquavit, but the food that goes with
it,” Krogstad says. “It makes a lot sense with foods, and that’s kind of how it started.”
He says the distillery originally “just made it for a lark,” but soon the cool-kid bartenders
from Portland to NYC were using the uniquely fl avored liquor in cocktails. “We used my
name because we aren’t very creative,” Krogstad laughs.
“It’s not a super-aggressive fl avor like you get from most gins,” he says. “It’s complex,
but smooth and balanced. A lot of people are using it to make something that would be a
vodka drink and make it more interesting.”
Krogstad Aquavit is dominated by caraway and star anise. The anise gives it that licorice
fl avor, and the caraway, Christian Krogstad says, “is very complex and has these savory
low notes.”
Some local liquor stores sell aquavits, including Aalborg and Krogstad, or you can head
to Izakaya Meiji and have Martinez or another creative mixologists pour you a cold shot of
snaps, or create a cocktail with a distinctly Scandinavian fl avor. ■
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March 15, 2012
SWIZZLE 3