Aquavit or Akvavit or Akevitt: The spirit of Scandinavia, gin’s Nordic cousin, snaps, it goes by many names around the world. Some even sails around the world before it’s bottled. This episode explores some of the history, styles, and origins of the spirit, as well as some tasty tales of potato priests, black death, and drinking songs.

Resources from this episode:

Books:

Certified Specialist of Spirits (CSS) Study Guide, Society of Wine Educators, Nickles, J. (2020) 

The Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails [Kindle Edition], Wondrich, D & Rothbaum, N., (2022)

Websites:

Alcohol Professor: Three Exciting Aquavit Trends you Need to Know Now, English, C. (3 March 2023) https://www.alcoholprofessor.com/blog-posts/3-exciting-aquavit-trends

Drink Fellows: Demystifying Aquavit, Bickford, M. (11 January 2023) https://drinkfellows.com/blogs/news/demystifying-aquavit

English Grammar Lessons: See a Man About a Horse - Meaning, Origin, and Useage, Pearson (18 November 2021) https://english-grammar-lessons.com/see-a-man-about-a-horse-meaning/

Eur-Lex: Access to European Law, Regulation (EU) 2019/787 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 on the definition, description, presentation and labelling of spirit drinks, the use of the names of spirit drinks in the presentation and labelling of other foodstuffs, the protection of geographical indications for spirit drinks, the use of ethyl alcohol and distillates of agricultural origin in alcoholic beverages, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 110/2008, Annex 1 [Categories of Spirit Drinks ], (24) Akvavit or aquavit https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:02019R0787-20240513&qid=1721068894716

Innherred: Aquavit History at Innherred: https://en.visitinnherred.com/aquavit-history-in-innherred/

Love to Know: Seven Aquavit Cocktails for a Nordic Spin on the Classics, Freeman, A. (8 February 2023) https://www.lovetoknow.com/food-drink/cocktails/aquavit-cocktails

The Manual: A History of Brennivín Aquavit: The Black Death of Iceland, Fergus, J. (17 May 2017) https://www.themanual.com/food-and-drink/brennevin-aquavit-iceland/

Nordic Spirits: The History of Aquavit (nd) https://nordicspirits.com/en/history-aquavit

Oslo: The Story of Norwegian Akevitt https://www.oslohd.com/about-norwegian-akevitt

Scandinavia Standard: What is Aquavit? A Guide to the Scandinavian Spirit, Nielsen-Bobbit, J. (28 July 2020) https://www.scandinaviastandard.com/a-guide-to-scandinavian-aquavit/

Spritmuseum - Museum of Swedish Drinking Culture: The History of the Snaps Song https://spritmuseum.se/en/drinking-songs/

The Spruce Eats: What is Aquavit? Graham, C. (9 August 2022) https://www.thespruceeats.com/what-is-aquavit-4687051

Sunny Gandara: Aquavit - The history and tradition of the Norwegian ‘water of life’, Gandara, S. (30 June 2018) https://sunnygandara.com/aquavit-the-history-and-tradition-of-the-norwegian-water-of-life/

Swedish Food: Swedish Drinking Songs (Svenska Snapsvisor), Duxbury, J. (n.d.) https://www.swedishfood.com/songs

 

Glass in Session Episodes Relevant to this Episode:

S4E6 | Got Wood? Talkin’ bout Oak https://glassinsession.libsyn.com/s4e6-got-wood-talkin-bout-oak

Glass in Session® swag mentioned in this show: https://www.teepublic.com/user/glass-in-session

 

Glass in Session® is a registered trademark of Vino With Val, LLC.

Music: “Write Your Story” by Joystock (Jamendo.com cc_Standard License, Jamendo S.A.)