Happy Holidays—You Know You Need a Cocktail Right Now
We're publishing selected recipes from the new MUNCHIES cookbook, and we plan on keeping this concoction from Norway's Anne Maurseth close at hand this season.
November 22, 2017 ● 2 min read
By JJ Goode, Helen Hollyman, and the Editors of MUNCHIES | Photograph Brayden Olson © 2017
As Esben Holmboe Bang of Maaemo rampaged viking-like through Oslo, he stopped to partake from one of his favorite bartenders, Anne Maurseth.
She kept him and his fellow marauders’ spirits high with this bracing, spicy tipple. In the share-and-share-alike fashion of bartender culture, she was tweaking a creation from roving barman Brian Miller, who worked at New York trailblazer Pegu Club and Death & Co and now goes about the world spreading joy and cocktails—or, in celeb bartender terms, “consulting.” She was the one who thought to incorporate the warming nip of cinnamon and the complex acidity of grapefruit, all in the service of showcasing a truly special spirit: Linie aquavit. It’s not just infused with an enigmatic blend of herbs and spices, and it’s not just aged in sherry casks. The spirit is shipped by boat to Australia and back, crossing the equator (or in Norwegian, linie) twice. The conditions of traveling the high seas may or may not make a difference, but this kind of lore is part of why we love boozing so much.
Midnight Sun Cocktail
ANNE MAURSETHServes 1
1½ ounces aquavit, preferably Lysholm Linie
1 ounce freshly squeezed pink grapefruit juice
½ ounce Cinnamon Syrup (recipe follows)
¼ ounce freshly squeezed lime juice
1 green cardamom pod, crushed
Grapefruit peel, for garnish
Combine all the ingredients except the grapefruit peel in a cocktail shaker filled with ice and shake vigorously until your arms hurt, 10 to 20 seconds. Pour through a fine-mesh strainer into an ice-filled rocks glass and garnish with the grapefruit peel.
Cinnamon Syrup
Makes about 1 cup
1 cup granulated sugar
3 cinnamon sticks
½ vanilla bean, split
Combine the sugar, cinnamon sticks, and 1 cup water in a small saucepan. Use a knife to scrape the seeds from the vanilla into the saucepan and add the bean, too. Set it over medium-high heat and cook, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Cool completely and let sit for at least 1 hour, then strain into a container with an airtight lid. Store it in the refrigerator for up to 3 months.