Make it at home

Yield 700Hands-on 15 minTotal 336 hrDifficulty Easy

Ingredients

  • 700ml clean neutral 40 percent ABV vodka (or unflavoured aquavit if available)
  • 20g whole caraway seeds, lightly crushed
  • 10g whole dill seeds, lightly crushed
  • 5g fennel seeds
  • 3g coriander seeds, lightly crushed
  • Zest of 1 lemon, in long strips with no pith
  • 1 cardamom pod, crushed
  • 1 small dill crown (fresh) or 2 tsp fresh dill
  • 1 tsp light honey (optional, for a Skane style)

Method

  1. Sterilise a 1L glass jar with a tight lid using boiling water.
  2. Lightly crush caraway, dill, fennel, and coriander seeds in a mortar to release their oils without pulverising.
  3. Add the seeds, lemon zest, cardamom, and dill crown to the jar.
  4. Pour over the vodka. Add honey if using.
  5. Seal and store in a cool, dark cupboard. Shake the jar gently every day for the first 5 days.
  6. After 10 to 14 days, taste; the caraway should be dominant but balanced.
  7. Strain through muslin twice, then a paper coffee filter once to remove all sediment.
  8. Decant into a clean bottle. Rest 2 days before drinking to let the flavours settle.

Tip from the editors. Drink aquavit either ice cold (Christmas-style) or at room temperature (West Coast summer style); never warm, which makes the caraway taste medicinal.

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Where to eat swedish aquavit

Swedish Aquavit in Gothenburg

Ego Distillers ★ 4.6

$$ NordicGamlestaden

Ego Distillers occupies a former engine room at Gamlestadens Fabriker, far outside the tourist trail, and produces some of Sweden's most interesting aquavit.

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Why locals goIndustrial Gamlestaden location outside tourist itineraries

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Stigbergets Bryggan ★ 4.5

$$ Cocktail barRingon

Stigbergets Bryggan is the riverside tap bar for one of Sweden's finest craft breweries, pouring the full Stigbergets range in a converted industrial space.

OrderStigbergets West Coast IPA, Seasonal release, Kellerbier lager

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Stora Saluhallen ★ 4.7

$$ MarketCentrum

Stora Saluhallen is Gothenburg's grand 19th-century indoor market at Kungstorget, housing over 40 traders selling West Coast seafood, Swedish charcuterie.

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