Thursday, March 18, 2010

What in the world is... Akvavit

Aalborg Akvavit:  Akvavit means "Water of Life".  So does Eau de Vie, Whiskey... Our ancestors knew something.  Booze is good for you.

Akvavit is the national spirit of Denmark.  Like a lot of spirits, there are rules as how you have to make it.  If memory serves me correctly, Akvavit must be flavored with at least 50% caraway and/or dill.  Anything less, and it's schnapp's.

Feel free to watch Three Sheets in Denmark and let me know if I'm wrong.



This particular Akvavit is flavored with caraway.  What's caraway?  It's those little seeds in italian sausage.  I don't remember liking this, yet somehow, the bottle is almost empty.  (I've had it for at 7+ years.)  Not surprisingly, it tastes like caraway, which is an odd choice for a drink.  I remember when I bought it, I thought that it was going to taste like apple, because there was an apple on the back label.  Upon further review, it's actually a tomato, and that tomato is there because the bottle comes with a recipe for a "Danish Mary".  I'll pass on that one.  A small dash, and I really do mean small, adds a bit of interest to a manhattan.

1 comment:

  1. Typically it goes with food like fat fish (heering, salmon) and cheese. The flavouring fits the food. But of course you can drink it alone, if you don't have whisky or brandy..

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