Jump-Starting the Aquavit Renaissance

Jump-Starting the Aquavit Renaissance - The New York Times:

"Aquavit, or akvavit (literally “water of life”), is produced from a distilled grain or potato spirit and must be flavored predominantly with caraway or dill. There are usually other ingredients in the mix — like anise, fennel seed, cumin, cardamom and citrus peels — but the caraway or dill must be the lead botanical. (Aquavit is often referred to casually as “snaps,” but not all snaps can legally be aquavit; snaps is a more general term that includes spirits with flavors like berries, nuts, peppers or horseradish.)

 Aquavit is one of the few spirits in the world that’s traditionally paired with food. In Denmark, Aalborg’s red-label taffel (or “table”) bottling is classically served at lunch, chilled and neat alongside smorrebrod and pickled herring, backed by a Tuborg or Carlsberg beer. In Norway, there are special bottlings to pair with specific dishes such as herring, lutefisk and the epically stinky rakefisk.

In essence, aquavit is like a gin flavored with caraway or dill rather than juniper.

Given the current popularity of craft gins, it’s surprising that aquavit has not quite found a wider audience. In Denmark, a number of smaller, craft distillers are experimenting with aquavits that ratchet up the juniper flavor, while keeping the necessary caraway character."



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