(upbeat music)
- [Voiceover] Jeppson's Malört is considered by a lot
of people to be the most horrible liquor
they've ever had.
- To me, Malört tastes like sweaty socks.
- Metallic pine needles.
- Canteloupe plus tires? Like rubber.
- Technically, it's like a digestif, realistically,
it's sour and regret. It's pretty rough.
- First thought is awful, but then it's a acquired taste
that now that I can't, actually get enough off.
- (coughs) No.
(harmonica playing)
- My name is Tremaine Atkinson. I am CEO and head distiller
for CH distillery.
My best description of the taste of
Jeppson's Malört, is ass, gas, and fire
all at the same time. I personally love it,
and I think it tastes great but maybe I'm a little weird.
(chuckles)
- [Narrator] When a CEO describes his product
as something that tastes like ass, gas, and fire,
it's safe to assume that there's a story
that needs to be told, and that story as it turns out,
is one of legend.
(upbeat music)
- [Tremaine] Malört was invented in the 1930s
by Carl Jeppson, a Swedish immigrant who smoked
so many cigars that it killed his taste buds,
so he had to come up with something with
such a strong flavor that it could cut through
and give him a real experience.
- [Narrator] So, do tell, what did he come up with?
- [Tremaine] We can say that it does have wormwood in it,
it, and that is it's primary flavor; and everything else
after that is top secret.
- [Narrator] But please, more about wormwood.
- [Tremaine] Wormwood is a, a plant; it's really an herb;
it looks a little bit just like a twig with
some small leaves on it, and it grows just about everywhere.
When you take a bite of it, it is the most
bitter substance that you really ever could,
could bite into.
- [Narrator] Please excuse my naiveté, but can someone
please explain why? Why would anyone drink this stuff?
- [Tremaine] Jeppson's Malört is an old school
Chicago tradition. Chicago has some really iconic things
about it, like deep dish pizza and The Bean
and Lake Michigan. I think why Malört is so embraced
is because those other things are nice,
but Malört is kind of the badass icon of Chicago;
it allows us to be ourselves.
I wanted to get involved with Malört ever since I started
making booze here in Chicago because it is such a staple
of the Chicago drinking scene.
- [Narrator] Staple? More like an anti-staple.
How many shots of this could you possibly sell?
- On average, 365 days a year, people are taking
10,000 shots of Malört, so think about that:
every night 10,000 shots of Malört
are disappearing into peoples bodies.
(chuckles)
That was a really weird way to say that.
(laughs)
- [Narrator] Weird indeed, but point made.
- [Tremaine] I vaguely remember my first shot of Malört.
- [Narrator] (groans) Same.
- I remember my friend who was from here said,
"Oh, you've got to try a shot of this." And I took it,
and I just said, "Why? Why did you do that to me?"
That was how I was introduced to it, but now I love Malört
because I love the way it tastes; I think it is fascinating;
I love the balance between the pure bitterness
and the herbal and floral flavors,
that little touch of sweetness, the heat of the alcohol,
all of that adds up to me as a really, really interesting
taste experience, and I also love the way it makes me feel.
- [Narrator] I love the way that you love Malört,
and I only wish that one day I will be so lucky
to love something as much as you love your beloved Malört.