With Midsummer around the corner, our Scandi friends are enjoying long, sunny days and getting their fix of the outdoors at rooftop bars and back porches everywhere.
Nothing says summer quite like a cold, fresh cocktail—and Scandinavian flavours, tinged as they are with herbs, spices and dry notes, are perfect for mixing up a drink to toast the summer with. Two of Scandi’s best cocktail bars sent us their favourite recipes… and we’ve even mixed up one of our own.
The delicious Osterso Cola from Copenhagen's Lidkoeb
Osterso Cola
from Lidkoeb in Copenhagen, Denmark
The Danes love their liquorice, and this “Baltic Sea Cola” is one of the resident favourite house cocktails at Lidkoeb. It also includes that most summery of bevvies, just made to be drunk outside: Pimm’s!
Ingredients:
3 cl freshly-squeezed lemon juice
2 cl liquorice syrup
1 cl Creme de Peche
3 cl Pimm’s
3 cl Ketel One Vodka
Lemon wedge (optional)
Method:
Shake all ingredients in an ice-cold cocktail shaker, and strain into a low-ball glass filled to the brim with ice. Garnish with a lemon wedge.
Spicy Summer Flower
from Ett Glass in Oslo, Norway
Invented by on of the in-house bartenders at Ett Glass, this drink is refreshing and clean-tasting, with a kick of warming chili right at the end. While the team at Ett Glass may make their own chilli syrup, you can make your own version by adding hot chillies to homemade simple syrup before you boil the mixture… or buying some off the shelf.
Ingredients:
2 cl Tanquary no. 10
2 cl Cartron Elderflower liqueur
4 cl fresh-squeezed lemon juice
2 cl of chilli syrup
Method:
Vigorously shake all the ingredients together in a shaker. Strain into a stemmed glass, and top off with a glug of Prosecco.
Best Served Cold
from Best Served Scandinavia (...get it?)
We’ve added a drink of our own to celebrate Midsummer—for a bit of extra Scandi flavour, you can also float a star anise on top.
Ingredients:
4 cl aquavit
2 cl Manzanilla sherry
3/4 cl St. Germain
Twist of lemon (optional)
Method:
Fill a tall glass full of ice, and quickly add all the ingredients. Stir well for 30 seconds, and strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.
Cheers! Or... skål! Skál! Kippis!