The Rise of Malört, an Unexpected Midwest princess

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.

I love the ads:

"Malort: Weeding out Chicago's weak since 1934"

"Malort: When you need to unfriend someone in person"

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.

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...)

Yeah, they took a quaint little dive bar thing and are turning it into a lifestyle brand.

I like it too. Reminds me of Akavit, which I love.

As someone who loves akvavit, I find Malört absolutely disgusting.

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.

As a former Chicagoan I also enjoy Malört.

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.

The batches being consistently less bitter is one of the first things I noticed about new bottles after CH acquired the brand.

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.

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.

This is where it gets tricky.

Malort is bottom shelf example of a “Bäsk” liquor.

https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Bäsk

There are much finer versions of it, and if you’re in Chicago Binnies carries one by Letherbee “Bësk” and if you like that bitter grapefruit/wormwood flavor, it is mana from heaven

https://www.letherbee.com/products

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.

Ironically, here in Chicago Malört has become so trendy that you'll sometimes end up paying more for it than you will for Bësk at a bar.

I have a theory that our flavor pallet is flexible, and if you continue to consume something your body things is nourishing, it'll eventually flip a switch in your brain where it becomes palatable.

I'm sure someone has done research on this, but I'm unaware of any.

I'm intrigued to try it. I wonder how much it overlaps with Gammel Dansk, which my cousin describes as "it's a like a cinnamon stick threw up"

I also really like it, I have a bottle in the pantry.

The first time I had it (in Chicago of course), I asked the bartender what it tasted like before trying it as my friends had been building up how bad it was. She said, “It tastes like the day my Father left us.”

I have friends who make custom shirts with the Malört logo and the text “Malört: because fuck you.”

malört meaning wormwood, which https://www.etymonline.com/word/wormwood says may be an alteration of

> wer "man" + mod "courage," from its early use as an aphrodisiac

I'm pretty sure this is known, at least for bitter tastes. Coffee, alcohol, bitter vegetables, dark chocolate, etc., tend to be acquired tastes to at least some degree. Even if you don't dislike them on first try, you probably grew to enjoy them more as you continued trying them.

> but it's really not that bad.

you're not selling me

That's because I'm not a salesman ;)

If you like bitter aperitifs, campari, jager, etc then you owe it to yourself to try malort. If you don't, then you can live without it.

Jaegermeister is licorice flavored so I can’t take a sip of it without gagging. Does Malort taste anything like licorice?

I don’t think so. But both taste highly herbal.