When describing the taste of Jeppson’s Malört, Chicago’s infamous wormwood-based liqueur, people tend to get creative. A cursory glance of various Reddit subs like r/bartenders and r/Chicago reveal some solid attempts: Notes of Fresca, paint thinner, and sadness; Week-old grapefruit rinds soaked in floodwater and shame; Gasoline filtered through a week-old garbage bag; Imagine if your parents’ divorce had a flavor. The spirit is famously gnarly, and has been “enjoyed” almost exclusively in the domain of the Chicago bar scene, where it’s existed as a rite of passage for dive bar denizens and as a reliable and irreverent bartender’s handshake. But in recent years, Malört has slowly crept out of the Chicagoland area, emerging on back bars nationwide as an “IYKYK” novelty item and even appearing in bona fide cocktails.
As a result, more people than ever are engaging in the misfortune of knocking back shots of Malört and getting in on the joke. This growth is fun to see — after all, misery loves company. At the same time, it is fair to wonder if the increased presence of Malört has robbed the digestif some of its hyper-regional charm. Even fairer: How did a liqueur so local and so infamous for how rough it tastes go so mainstream?
The Quiet Malörtification of America
Like many other drinks trends, Malört’s ascension into the bar scene’s collective consciousness can be partially pinned on social media. Hop on Instagram and you’ll find several accounts devoted to posting “Malört face,” the pained expression
