- Courtesy of Letherbee Distillers
- R. Franklin’s Original Recipe Malort
Malort has been a thing in Chicago for a while now—about 75 years, to be exact—but suddenly everyone’s talking about it. In just the last few months a Second City short attempted to answer the question of where Malort really comes from, NPR’s blog the Salt published a detailed look at how the wormwood-infused spirit made its way from Sweden to Chicago during Prohibition, and Serious Eats went on a Malort crawl in Wicker Park. And, of course, it’s been a Key Ingredient challenge—originally for Michael Carlson, and more recently at our Key Ingredient Cook-Off.
Mostly, though, people have been talking about Jeppson’s Malort, originally made in Chicago by Swedish immigrant Carl Jeppson and now manufactured in Florida but sold only in Chicago (and soon Wisconsin). Since New Year’s, though, Letherbee Distillers has been making a Malort for the Violet Hour that, until now, has been available only at the bar. R. Franklin’s Original Recipe Malort, named for Violet Hour beverage director Robbie Haynes (his middle name is Franklin), who developed the recipe in collaboration with Letherbee distiller Brent Engel, was released for retail sale this week.
