The Rise of Malört, an Unexpected Midwest princess

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.

==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_...

If you like Fernet?

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.

Their social media accounts at least absolutely lean into the "worst drink ever" reputation.

Fernet is 100x better in every way.

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.

Have you tried Gammel Dansk?

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.

I always describe Malort as "it's like Fernet made Fernet in a shed"

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 "Malört is an American brand of bäsk liqueur, ", with bäsk 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".

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

You can’t be referring to me. I’ll do shots of Fernet all night long.

Fernet is delicious

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.

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.

Fernet tastes like mint toothpaste.

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 malört spirits (or aquavit, equally disgusting)

3. goto 1 until your drunk

4. get laid

Very, very, very few people ever reaches step 4.

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."

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.

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!

Most commonly it is pickled herring. I don't think rotten herring is a thing in any broader circles.

Homemade bäsk is usually much better than factory made Bäska 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.

Gotta add some Angostura bitters nowadays to give your Moxie some moxie.

Surströmming is not pickled but rather fermented

Aquavit equally disgusting? I guess I should try malört :) Aquavit with beer chaser and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinnekj%C3%B8tt is a great Christmas dish (but I would die if I didn't keep it to Christmas)

> 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?

The Streisand Effect works. Plus, in a crowded market, anything to set yourself apart is a win.

Also not quite the same as rotten! And, I would hazard a guess that the consumption ratio of inlagd-sill to surströmming is at least 1000:1, maybe 100000:1.