[HN Gopher] The Rise of Malort, an Unexpected Midwest princess
___________________________________________________________________
The Rise of Malort, an Unexpected Midwest princess
Author : mooreds
Score : 65 points
Date : 2024-11-20 14:48 UTC (8 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.nytimes.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.nytimes.com)
| 01acheru wrote:
| https://web.archive.org/web/20241115175926/https://www.nytim...
|
| edit: IDK how ethically right it is (in my opinion it is) but
| when posting paywalled content we should post the archive link
| directly or at least as part of the submission
| joombaga wrote:
| The archive link is also paywalled.
| 01acheru wrote:
| That's good to know and terrible news. It looks like a
| different paywall than the one I see going directly to the
| NYT link, it let me view the article the first time and now
| simply entered an unresolving state.
|
| Anyway shame on you NYT, this is like boycotting the web
| archive, ridiculous...
| 0points wrote:
| Actual full article: https://archive.is/d30Rz
| pvg wrote:
| The only thing I know about Malort is that tptacek enjoys
| complaining about Malort, so I'm looking forward to learning even
| more about that one thing.
| JohnFen wrote:
| I think that it's unpleasant, but found that its reputation is
| greatly exaggerated. There are much worse liquors available if
| that's your jam.
| arethuza wrote:
| By _far_ the worst tasting thing I 've had was Norwegian
| moonshine.
| tptacek wrote:
| Don't drink Windex.
| dugmartin wrote:
| As a former Chicagoan I'd have to agree. I always thought
| Malort was just a running gag to play on visitors.
| Kon-Peki wrote:
| Without the purchase-to-fulfill-a-gag market, it probably
| would have shut down decades ago.
|
| The new owners are a serious distillery, and doing the best
| job possible with the recipe. This will lead to people
| drinking it for reasons other than a gag, but will that
| grow to be enough to leave the joke behind?
| tptacek wrote:
| It pisses me off, because there's no reason for it to
| exist. There are good products with the same flavor
| profile Malort attempts (and fails), but Malort swamps
| them in the market. There's even non-Jeppson Malort now.
| It's all a stunt.
| mtremsal wrote:
| My first thought exactly! I have never heard of Malort outside
| of the cryptography/security industry, where offering it is
| seemingly used as a hazing ritual.
| evbogue wrote:
| Just chase it with an Old Style or twelve and whatever Malort
| tastes like to you will soon be only a nostalgic memory from
| your one trip late at night to Logan.
| jrochkind1 wrote:
| I like it fine, it doesn't taste especially unusual among other
| herbal bitter liquors, a category I like. It's not the best (or
| as expensive as the best! they can get pricey), but it's not the
| worst, it's a fine drink.
|
| The NYT story above mostly stayed away from how it's become known
| as like "the worst drink ever" or something, something you drink
| as a kind of challenge rather than that it's enjoyable.
|
| I've suspected that the manufacturer has been actually
| _encouraging_ this story. In the age of "challenges", a
| narrative that this is an incredibly hard to drink thing that's a
| challenge to drink is actually good marketting, that has been
| part of it's successful national awareness?
|
| It's not especially challenging, it's just an herbal bitter,
| which is not for everyone, sure. But it's not gross, it's a fine
| drink -- and ironically saying this, that it's not actually
| exceptionally bad, hurts it's marketing! Better to be
| exceptionally noteworthy bad than simply typical.
| supplied_demand wrote:
| ==I've suspected that the manufacturer has been actually
| encouraging this story. ==
|
| It is an explicit part of their marketing. This [0] excellent
| advertisement in Chicago states:
|
| "Do Not Enjoy. Responsibly."
|
| [0]
| https://www.reddit.com/r/chicago/comments/19dvd2j/brilliant_...
| kreeben wrote:
| In Sweden it goes
|
| 1. eat rotten herring (which you'll not enjoy, because it's
| rotten fish, yo)
|
| 2. clean your palette with a disgusting shot of home made
| malort spirits (or aquavit, equally disgusting)
|
| 3. goto 1 until your drunk
|
| 4. get laid
|
| Very, very, very few people ever reaches step 4.
| apelapan wrote:
| Most commonly it is pickled herring. I don't think rotten
| herring is a thing in any broader circles.
|
| Homemade bask is usually much better than factory made
| Baska Droppar, if you enjoy the taste of wormwood more than
| just being slapped in the face with artificial bitterness
| and sugar.
|
| Of course, if you hate the taste of fish, pickled things
| and spirits in general, you are unlikely to enjoy any of
| it.
| sli wrote:
| The liquor store I go to here in Chicago has a small Malort
| ad on a pole that says "These pants aren't going to shit
| themselves."
| calvinmorrison wrote:
| If you like Fernet?
| selectodude wrote:
| Fernet is 100x better in every way.
| MisterTea wrote:
| That is not saying much coming from a guy who thinks Fernet
| tastes the way a mens room smells on a hot day when
| chilled.
| selectodude wrote:
| You can't be referring to me. I'll do shots of Fernet all
| night long.
| calvinmorrison wrote:
| Fernet is delicious
| astrange wrote:
| Fernet tastes like mint toothpaste.
| tptacek wrote:
| Then you will be disappointed by Malort, which is one-
| dimensionally vile and without any charm. The sad thing is
| Chicago is a big amaro town; Malort is to a serious amaro
| what a bottle of 70% isopropyl is to Glenrothes 18.
| theadultnerd wrote:
| I always describe Malort as "it's like Fernet made Fernet
| in a shed"
| giraffe_lady wrote:
| What are some other liquors in its category? Because it's much
| higher proof and lower sugar content than the bitter liquors
| people drink more or less unmixed.
|
| There are probably some similarly high proof amaros out there
| but they're pretty rare even within that category and an
| american would probably only encounter them mixed into a
| cocktail if even then. Fernet branca sure but that's _much_
| less bitter. Malort is actually very unusual compared to
| campari, or suze or something along those lines. Much more
| bitter, more alcoholic and less sweet than the norm for these
| drinks.
| yxhuvud wrote:
| Have you tried Gammel Dansk?
| giraffe_lady wrote:
| I'm not sure. I was about to say yes but looking it up now
| probably what I had was arnbitter. I quit drinking over a
| decade ago too so I'm starting to get even more fuzzy on
| what I have and haven't tried.
| jrochkind1 wrote:
| Yes, Americans don't historically usually drink amaros or
| bitters. Amaros seem to be gaining in popularity though,
| perhaps the malort resurgence is part of that trend.
|
| Right, it's a herbal bitter, not citrus like campari. And not
| an especially sweet one.
|
| I am not good at remembering brand names there are so many.
| One I enjoy that comes in tiny little bottles and does have a
| bit of a foothold in the USA is the digestif Underberg.
|
| Sure, that whole category will be seen by some Americans who
| are not interested in bitter and digestifs as not
| particularly palatable. But still nothing special about
| Malort.
|
| Wikipedia says "Malort is an American brand of bask liqueur,
| ", with bask being a Swedish wormwood-based thing. Googling
| for wormwood amaros finds a variety to try, if the wormwood
| bitters is what you're looking for. The good ones will taste
| a lot better (and be a lot more expensive) than Malort,
| because, right, Malort isn't especially great, it's true.
|
| i had Malort for the first time only a few years ago. I was
| like, wait, this is it? OK, it's a not especially great
| example of the category, it's kind of mediocre, but I've
| drank plenty of the category and don't find it especially
| hard to drink.
|
| But "a mediocre bitter digestif" is obviously not as good
| marketing as "the worst drink on the planet, drink it as a
| challenge and impress your friends".
| kasey_junk wrote:
| I think Underberg is a good comp. The problem with Malort
| is not that its bitter or the flavor profile of it, its the
| _quality_ of the drink. Underberg is bitter but well made
| and it tells dramatically when drinking them side by side.
|
| Amaro's generally speaking are _very_ popular in Chicago.
| When I first moved here and was more of an out at bars type
| of person it was _extremely_ common to drink Amaro,
| especially at the end of a work night. But you'd drink the
| amaro's you'd expect (Fernet especially). No one would
| choose Malort because it wasn't any cheaper than a good
| amaro and was just worse.
|
| The story of Malort is the story of good marketing and pre-
| social media 'influencers' getting involved. The book
| mentioned in the article also covers the quirky story of
| the original Malort brand and its interesting if you like
| that sort of thing. But as a drink its just uninteresting.
| jrochkind1 wrote:
| Oh yeah I'm not saying Malort is _good_. i find it
| mediocre. I feel like I 've had worse (which I can't
| remember the name of because why). I enjoy em enough that
| if i was at a bar that only had Malort I'd drink it. (I
| don't like the menthol in Fernet Branca, although many
| do. Malort has no menthol flavor as I recall?)
|
| But the marketing campaign, whether crowdsourced viral or
| intended, is that it's like this uniquely horrible thing.
|
| If anyone is familiar with the category and enjoys it
| (certainly not everyone does), they won't find it
| particularly hard to drink or unusual. They will find it
| not very good, yes. Obviously that's not something you
| want to market.
|
| As you say, it's not interesting. But "the worst drink
| you'll ever have" would of course be very interesting!
| It's not that Malort is great, it's that in fact it's not
| interesting at all, it's just a mediocre bitter digestif.
| jrochkind1 wrote:
| Unicum might be another good comparable, that's actually
| good if you like that sort of thing?
|
| You want something that I think really is so bad that I
| have trouble imagining it's not just a novelty challenge
| drink -- and yet I think it's not and some people really
| do like it -- while even sticking to Nordic region (they
| like some weird stuff)....
|
| https://koskenkorva.com/en/koskenkorva-salmiakki
|
| "Salty" licorice is a misnomer, there's nothing actually
| salty about it, the "salt" is ammonium chloride. It's
| vodka flavored with black licorice (I'm with you so far),
| and the taste of ammonia.
| reducesuffering wrote:
| I think the Nordic countries' Aquavit is more like Malort
| than the Italian Amaros are.
|
| Fun fact: The Nordics are so cold, to age their Aquavit in
| casks, some producers would load them up on ships and send
| them to the equator and back. Linie Aquavit still does this
| tradition.
|
| Personally, Italian Amaros are much better than Aquavit or
| Malort though. Forget Fernet when there's Averna.
| anamexis wrote:
| I don't think Aquavit is very similar to Malort at all.
| They lack the bitterness and extreme astringency. Aquavit
| is more like gin but with a different botanical lineup.
| twic wrote:
| I thought it was pretty similar to Suze in bitterness,
| although I didn't try them side by side. It's about twice as
| strong, though. And neither is sweet enough to save you!
| spelunker wrote:
| Their social media accounts at least absolutely lean into the
| "worst drink ever" reputation.
| _sys49152 wrote:
| wish moxie brand sodas wouldve done a similar marketing
| strategy to gain a better foothold in the northeast market.
| they got bought out by coca cola and nerfed any bitterness to
| have it resemble more like a flat root beer.
|
| not everything in life needs to be sweet.
| defen wrote:
| Yeah, everyone knows that the real worst liquor ever is Ng Ka
| Py. Either they made it differently back then or John Steinbeck
| never actually drank it.
| adolph wrote:
| Ok, Malort is the name of an alcoholic beverage. It is unclear to
| me why a liquid would be called a "princess" but maybe it
| reflects the jargon of aficionados.
|
| _Malort was introduced in Chicago in the 1930s and was long
| produced by the Carl Jeppson Company. In 2018, as its last
| employee was retiring, the brand and company name were sold to CH
| Distillery of Chicago 's Pilsen neighborhood. Jeppson's Malort is
| named after Carl Jeppson, a Swedish immigrant who first distilled
| and popularized the liquor in Chicago. Malort (literally moth
| herb) is the Swedish word for wormwood, which is the key
| ingredient in bask. Malort is extremely low in thujone, a
| chemical once prevalent in absinthe and similar drinks._
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeppson's_Mal%C3%B6rt
| bdndndndbve wrote:
| It's a reference to the Chappell Roan album "The Rise and Fall
| of a Midwest Princess" which has been a smash hit this summer.
| adolph wrote:
| Oh how fascinating. What is the connection between the
| beverage and album? Or is it just a spurious reference by the
| headline to drive engagement?
| RandallBrown wrote:
| > What is the connection between the beverage and album?
|
| Malort is from Chicago, which is in the midwest, and it's
| blown up in popularity lately. I don't think there's
| anything else to it.
| duped wrote:
| > It is also, in five words, the unofficial liquor of Chicago
|
| No, it's a meme that hipsters have somehow latched onto because
| the Chicago aesthetic seems to be popular now.
|
| If a native Chicagoan tells you that you have to have a shot of
| Malort when you're at the bar because it's the "unofficial liquor
| of Chicago" - they're pulling a prank. It's somehow lasted a
| century as a prank you pull on your buddies who don't drink that
| often.
| sequoia wrote:
| If it's lasted a century as a prank Chicagoans play on people,
| it sounds like it is in fact a cultural touchstone.
| samgranieri wrote:
| I live in the Chicago suburbs now and used to live in Chicago.
| Taking shots of Malort in bars is indeed a rite of passage for
| tourists, but yeah, it's a foul-tasting shot.
|
| Democratic Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker was recorded sharing
| shots of Malort with visiting politicians during the week of
| the Democratic National Convention. I enjoyed looking at the
| reaction of the visiting politicians after they drank it.
| pessimizer wrote:
| Pritzker is a rich guy who grew up in California and
| Massachusetts, so in Chicago he's an absolutely typical
| Malort drinker. It's become a big part of pretending to be
| local.
| supplied_demand wrote:
| I've seen it used more often as an initiation if someone has
| recently moved to Chicago. You welcome them to the city with a
| "Chicago Handshake" which is Old Style beer and a shot of
| Malort.
| tptacek wrote:
| Yes, this, exactly.
| selectodude wrote:
| The most annoying part of Malort discourse is that it's
| changed since it was purchased by CH and isn't nearly as
| strong.
| tptacek wrote:
| It was never a good product. It's a bad product that people
| drink as a stunt or a prank.
| selectodude wrote:
| Agreed. It's just gross. However the part that gets me is
| it's not even as gross as it used to be before it became
| "cool".
| jollyllama wrote:
| First a hipster meme and then a forced meme by the makers to
| capitalize on it.
| 0points wrote:
| Malort is the name of the herb wormwood in Swedish. The swedish
| name means "clothing moth herb", and has been used to fight cloth
| moths among other uses. Also especially popular spirit flavoring,
| which it's latin name hints of.
|
| Artemisia absinthium
| tptacek wrote:
| I'd imagine there's as much actual wormwood in Malort as there
| is fruit in a Froot Loops.
| dracyr wrote:
| Not sure about the ones mentioned in the article, but for the
| kind I'm used to (i.e Bask) in Sweden it's a given.
|
| In our family it's generally been a tradition to go out in
| the night of August 24th each year to pick some wormwood, and
| then infuse some plain alcohol with it to have for the coming
| months. We generally don't leave it in as long recipes call
| for though, 24h instead of multiple days so the taste is a
| bit milder.
| strictnein wrote:
| Anything special about August 24th that makes it the day to
| do this?
| dracyr wrote:
| Its the day when all farmers should be done harvesting
| and autumn officially begins according to
| "Bondepraktikan" [1], which says to be done by St
| Bartholomews day.
|
| Like many old traditions the reasons have for many become
| lost to time, and now it's an accepted fact that that's
| the magical night to get some wormwood.
|
| [1]
| https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Farmer%27s_Almanac
| nate wrote:
| Wait. Fruit loops are made of corn. Corn is a fruit! :)
| nate wrote:
| Jesus. I'm also today years old when I learned they're
| spelled Froot loops, not Fruit loops.
| jknoepfler wrote:
| Yes, corn is a Froot, not a fruit. It's a common dietary
| misconception.
| twic wrote:
| It's actually even worse - they're Froot Luips.
| iwontberude wrote:
| It's disgusting. It's liquid ear wax shared by people who like to
| piss other people off. I say this as a person who typically
| enjoys bitter.
| arethuza wrote:
| Google's AI says that it _" has a full-bodied flavor and tastes
| like pencil shavings, old battery rust, citrus zest, and ear
| wax"_.
| csa wrote:
| ..."and despair".
| ur-whale wrote:
| https://archive.is/d30Rz
| mpalfrey wrote:
| I went on a stag do (bachelor party for non-Brits) last year. The
| groom had just returned from Chicago on a business trip the
| morning we went away. He brought back a bottle of Malort.
|
| I developed a taste for it that weekend - it's not that bad (I'd
| take it over something like Becharovka). Annoyingly years ago
| (2009ish) I spent a fair amount of time over in the Midwest with
| work and never drank the stuff.
| baggy_trough wrote:
| Becherovka? I love that stuff. I'm afraid to try Malort though.
| DrBazza wrote:
| Must be a British thing as I'm the same. Been to Chicago a few
| times and had a few shots of Malort and it's totally fine.
| Maybe it's the coriander-tastes-like-soap thing for some
| people.
| PhasmaFelis wrote:
| > _Mr. Wurth, who tended bar in Chicago for 10 years before
| moving down South, takes Polaroids of Malort first-timers and
| asks them to write descriptions of the drink on the border.
| Hundreds of snapshots plaster the walls of the bar's two
| bathrooms. A sampling of their tiny captions: "Swamp grass in
| July," "Pain" and, Mr. Wurth's favorite, "The powder inside of a
| balloon." Malort turns even the most prosaic into unexpected
| poets._
|
| I have not had Malort, but I have had absinthe, which I believe
| is similar? And I'd like to contribute.
|
| I wouldn't say it tastes bad. If you drank boiling bleach, you
| wouldn't say it "tastes bad." That's not the right category of
| word. It tastes like something that should never, ever go in your
| mouth.
| strictnein wrote:
| Absinthe has redeeming qualities, even if you don't enjoy the
| anise/black licorice flavor (which I do not). Malort does not.
| It really is a different beast.
| PhasmaFelis wrote:
| That is impressive and terrifying.
| whalesalad wrote:
| We had a bottle or two in our FarmLogs (yc12) office. Would bring
| it out once in a while to celebrate something, and would always
| snag a noobie or intern to fall for the trap.
| terminalbraid wrote:
| Neat. What was the trap?
| chasil wrote:
| It tastes like roadkill soaked in turpentine.
| tptacek wrote:
| It's not just that it tastes bad. Elisir Novasalus tastes
| bad. Lots of things taste bad. Malort tastes like something
| you are not supposed to be drinking; like solvents, like
| something leaking out of the engine of a car. Not in a good
| way. It tastes like a _bad product_.
| BobaFloutist wrote:
| I mean if you're not a heavy drinker, most liquor tastes
| like a solvent.
| dh2022 wrote:
| I am not a heavy drinker, and I absolutely enjoy all
| sorts of liquors: cognacs, whiskeys, vodkas, gins, etc...
| None of these taste like solvent.
| IncreasePosts wrote:
| It tastes awful
| BurningFrog wrote:
| I'm Swedish, and this tastes exactly as I remember the Swedish
| "Baska Droppar" ("Bitter drops"). I haven't had the opportunity
| to compare them side by side, and don't particularly wish to.
|
| I used to think of it as the booze for a final stage alcoholic to
| get a reaction from a drink.
|
| https://www.raschvin.com/en/product/baeska-droppar-prima-sna...
| sloped wrote:
| I've noticed an increase in small distilleries creating their own
| versions of Malort over the past five or so years. It reminds me
| of the renaissance Fernet experienced 7 or 8 years ago. Malort is
| definitely an acquired taste--taking a shot of it feels like
| punishment--but if you enjoy bitter liquors, sipping some chilled
| Malort after a heavy meal might not be unpleasant.
|
| I'd guess that bitterness is the flavor most people are least
| interested in exploring, and that makes sense. It doesn't seem to
| have the same endorphin payoff as other tastes. It's an
| interesting flavor, and I think you need to have an interest in
| digging into unusual flavors before diving into the world of
| bitter-forward spirits. I think it makes sense that the rise of
| better cocktails has led to spirits like Malort seeing growth.
| J_Shelby_J wrote:
| Fernet is so good. Probably a good entry point to bitters. It
| is so nice with Diet Coke.
| mooreds wrote:
| If I like Amaro, but haven't been a fan of Fernet, is Malort
| worth a shot?
| er4hn wrote:
| Amaro is fairly sweet. Malort is closer to Jagermesiter, but
| with a much more bitter flavor. I'd look into Becherovka if
| you want something a little more "zesty"
| mNovak wrote:
| Besk has existed for a long time in Chicago, which I've heard
| referred to as "good Malort." It has a brighter, anise-forward
| flavor which puts it more in line with Italian amari.
| jerlam wrote:
| Most of the alternative, new Fernets I've tried want to be
| "Branca, but more approachable", which takes away a lot of what
| makes Branca so interesting. I don't know if "Malort, but less
| bitter" is as marketable.
| wlll wrote:
| I (a brit) have drunk Malort on a few occasions. It's foul, I
| only drank it because it was part of fun nights out with a group
| of work friends. My ex boss' review "the worst thing I've ever
| had in my mouth".
| TheAdamist wrote:
| I happen to enjoy malort, so there's probably something wrong
| with me.
|
| Malort has been seeing wider distribution recently, which i hear
| may due to a buyout a while ago. Their website lists distribution
| in Delaware, Maryland, DC, and randomly checking San Francisco
| shows availability as well.
|
| No more having to visit Chicago to purchase it enables a lot more
| people to buy it and businesses to serve it.
|
| The weird Chicago only malort variants do disturb me, but i would
| try them.
| kiernanmcgowan wrote:
| The burnt rubber flavor does grow on you. Kinda like how black
| coffee is a bit of an acquired taste.
| MisterTea wrote:
| From what I am reading Malort sounds like a bad combo between
| a disgusting smokey scotch* and Fernet, a liquor that tastes
| the way a public mens bathroom smells like on a hot day when
| chilled.
|
| And you compare that to black coffee? Shame on you.
| tptacek wrote:
| They're not even in the same universe. I don't love Fernet,
| but I appreciate it, and can taste things in it; it tastes
| like lots of different herbs and spices, some of them
| unpalatable. On the other hand, to make homemade Malort,
| simply mix Windex, Everclear, and sugar.
| mNovak wrote:
| The variants are what worry me; it seems to defeat the purpose
| of a drink that built a reputation on being "unenjoyable" to
| make it more palatable while using the brand name for cachet.
|
| All that to say, I tried barrel aged Malort -- it mellows down
| the flavor, so sure it's "better," but again what's the point?
| There are plenty of better tasting shots out there.
| jerlam wrote:
| Malort has been available at Total Wine and More for over a
| year. That's when I bought some and forced my friends into all
| trying it, and they all agreed it was terrible.
| some_random wrote:
| I'm a complete weirdo apparently who really likes the flavor of
| malort, it's bitter and herbal and so if you like those flavors
| you'll enjoy it. I kinda resent the amount of marketing that the
| new owners have churned out hyping it up, although I do
| appreciate what they're doing.
|
| If you think you might enjoy it, give it a shot I'd describe the
| flavor as sweetened church pew, then grapefruit bitterness. If
| you're not expecting it you'll almost certainly hate it, but it's
| really not that bad.
| lopatin wrote:
| I love the ads:
|
| "Malort: Weeding out Chicago's weak since 1934"
|
| "Malort: When you need to unfriend someone in person"
| wsatb wrote:
| Every batch is different, some are more bitter than others. I
| think the new owners were planning to change that, but I feel
| like it hurts the appeal. The surprise is part of the fun.
|
| I do not mind the taste, most of the time. Some bottles are
| especially bad though.
| wl wrote:
| The batches being consistently less bitter is one of the
| first things I noticed about new bottles after CH acquired
| the brand.
| tehalex wrote:
| Malort is bitter, but not high proof, so I personally find it
| much easier to drink than something with more alcohol (if just
| talking about a shot...)
| ryanchants wrote:
| Yeah, they took a quaint little dive bar thing and are turning
| it into a lifestyle brand.
| stcroixx wrote:
| I like it too. Reminds me of Akavit, which I love.
| ambicapter wrote:
| As someone who loves akvavit, I find Malort absolutely
| disgusting.
| devin wrote:
| I find it just fine as well. I feel like a generation of
| marketing around Malort was "it's really gross!", but it's a
| distinct taste that I don't think a chunk of people would find
| so offensive if they weren't heavily primed before trying it.
| jknoepfler wrote:
| I'd be curious how it fares internationally. To me it just
| tastes to me like an anise liqueur with a pronounced
| bitterness.
|
| I wouldn't be in a hurry to take a big swig of it, but that
| strikes me a little bit like taking a big swig of soy sauce
| and concluding it tastes awful.
| wenc wrote:
| As a former Chicagoan I also enjoy Malort.
|
| To my unstudied palate, it is the bitter cousin to
| Jaegermeister. It's a bit more complex and more of a mature
| drink compared to Jaegers.
| Glyptodon wrote:
| I tried it hoping it would be kind of vaguely like Absinthe
| mixed with w/ grapefruit extract and quinine, but it just
| tasted like burning gasoline or jet fuel to me.
| droopyEyelids wrote:
| This is where it gets tricky.
|
| Malort is bottom shelf example of a "Bask" liquor.
|
| https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Bask
|
| There are much finer versions of it, and if you're in Chicago
| Binnies carries one by Letherbee "Besk" and if you like that
| bitter grapefruit/wormwood flavor, it is mana from heaven
|
| https://www.letherbee.com/products
| bunderbunder wrote:
| I like mine neat with a couple dashes of bitters. It's a lovely
| sipping drink.
|
| I hate that whenever I try to order that at a bar, the
| bartender thinks I'm just being an idiot to show off. I can't
| see how it's any more of an acquired taste than something like
| single malt or calvados. Which, coincidentally, also make for
| thoroughly disgusting shots.
|
| I wouldn't down half a tin of breath mints in one go, either.
| theadultnerd wrote:
| Love Malort, we serve it at my bar and it's absolutely something
| that grows on people.
| moribvndvs wrote:
| Even just reading the word Malort gives me Malort face.
| jboggan wrote:
| My friends make a cocktail with Malort, White Monster, and C4
| preworkout. They also have a multi-year running gag where they
| offer me a bottle of fine whiskey or bourbon at a campfire but it
| has in fact been replaced by Malort. Then, when I am choking and
| gagging someone else offers me some water to wash away the taste,
| which is in fact also Malort.
| alana314 wrote:
| That's so funny. Water doesn't even wash away the taste anyway
| MisterTea wrote:
| > My friends make a cocktail with Malort, White Monster, and C4
| preworkout.
|
| Fuck me I almost gagged reading that. The rest is just a horror
| story. That would be the camping trip I return from alone and
| immediately call a criminal defense lawyer.
| tptacek wrote:
| There remain jurisdictions in the United States where it is
| legal to shoot someone for replacing water with Malort.
| defen wrote:
| > Malort, White Monster, and C4 preworkout
|
| What do they call this cocktail? I suggest "Malortal Kombat".
| twic wrote:
| The Grand Malort Seizure?
| hamburga wrote:
| As a Chicagoan, I enjoy Malort regularly, and I like to chase it
| with light beer. It makes the beer taste amazingly sweet.
| kasey_junk wrote:
| Try the exact same thing with Fernet instead. Or Averna, or
| really any bitter Amaro. They will provide better flavors but
| the same change to light beer.
| rderewianko wrote:
| https://archive.is/d30Rz
| csmoak wrote:
| the bar Little Brother in Austin has a fun deal. for $5, you roll
| a d20 and if you get a 20 you get a shot of whistle pig. anything
| 1-5 and you get a shot of malort.
| otterley wrote:
| What do you get if you roll 6-19?
| csmoak wrote:
| sliding scale of other liquors of varying subjective quality
| kaffekaka wrote:
| The usage of the name is cultural appropriation.
| Kon-Peki wrote:
| It was created by a Swedish emigrant. There's a lot of Swedish
| history and people in Chicago, so much so that Sweden maintains
| an honorary consulate general that has no official diplomatic
| duties but is there to maintain relations and participate in
| the many Swedish festivals that happen throughout the area.
| cthalupa wrote:
| It's basically a bottom shelf amaro. If you like amaros, you can
| probably find malort palatable.
|
| But bitterness is a very divisive flavor so lots of people just
| have extreme reactions to amaros in general and malort in
| particular.
| tymski wrote:
| I never understood why everyone hates this. I used to order a
| round of shots for everyone at the bar and they all hated it.
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