For nearly three quarters of a century Jeppson’s Malort, Chicago’s native wormwood-based spirit, has been both reviled and celebrated for its powerful, sustained bitterness. Malort—the name is Swedish for wormwood—descends from a family of bitter schnapps said to be good for digestion. But in the late 30s, after Chicago attorney George Brode purchased the formula from Swedish immigrant Carl Jeppson (essentially the dried botanical macerated in grain-neutral alcohol), he began marketing it on the basis of its aggressive unpalatability. It’s never been available outside of northern Illinois. But here it persists in many watering holes as a tool of cruel pranksters or a test of one’s appetite for punishment.
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The brothers are genuine fans of Malort’s flavor, but also of its power to offend. They’ve cooked bratwurst in Malort and dyed it green on Saint Patrick’s Day, and Tim—who describes its taste as “baby tears and gasoline”—says he fantasizes about building a career as a Malort marketing rep. “We’re right at the point here that something that is so disgusting that it’s funny can really take off,” he says.
I like his gumption, but I’ve tasted Brixie’s Biledriver (Malort and OJ), the Malortarita (with triple sec and lime juice), and the Scandalous Scandinavian (with soda and a superfluous dash of Angostura bitters). With all due respect, I don’t think he should give up his day job.
After that, McGee thought Malort might work better in a “refreshing” drink, so he created one based on the Mexican tequila-and-grapefruit potion known as the Paloma, combining a peppery Herradura Silver with half an ounce of Malort and orange and lime juice, topped off with spicy ginger beer and garnished with crystallized ginger. I could see it taking off in Little Village. And in fact Gabelick noted that in recent times Malort’s popularity in Swedish and eastern European bars has been outstripped by its growth in Mexican ones—Brode used to advertise in La Raza, she said.
Brode’s Malort bottle hangers once boasted that “only 1 out of 49 men (rarely women) continue drinking Jeppson Malort after the first ‘shock-glass,’” but I think all these cocktails have the potential to even the odds. Joly, who has a few more Malort recipes up his sleeve, says he already mixes enough Bukowskis at the Drawing Room that he’s considering adding a Malort cocktail flight to his menu.
