Jim Hanson, my cousin, admired his little grandpa Chris Christensen who was born in Denmark but spent most of his life in Geneva, Minnesota.
Thanksgiving Day while Jim and Maryalice were hosting the Hanson Horde, Jim brought out Aquavit and told a story of this mysterious liquor. I thought this would be interesting, as many have never even heard of Aquavit.
My great-grandfather, Chris Christensen, who lived in Geneva, would always have a bottle of Aquavit on hand. At family gatherings, he would usually share some Aquavit with his guests - usually only the men. The prized bottle was brought forth from the freezer - a tiny amount poured forth in each glass, and the toast given. Growing up, you knew you were coming of age when you were included in the secret ceremony of the Aquavit! It was enough to instill within you the traditions of the Vikings and make you want to raid the nearest village!
Every civilization has its ceremonial self-flagellation, scourging, or blood-letting. For Scandinavians, it is the consumption of Lutefisk or Aquavit! Most Scandinavian, Icelandic, and Greenlanders know Aquavit as “braendevin” or “blenevin” - literally burning wine for its warming taste. In Iceland, it is used to eliminate the taste of fermented shark (which Jim said was the worst thing that he has ever eaten) It is perhaps the only liquor up to that test!
The Aquavit (or Akavit, in Scandinavian countries) ceremony goes like this: Aquavit- if you know your Latin, you would know that it is broken down into Aqua (water) and Vit‚ - the root word of Vitae (life) - therefore, water of life. You can get it in any Arctic area of the world - Iceland, Greenland, Scandinavia, Russia - because it is spicy. Most Aquavit is clear in color, except for Norwegian Aquavit, which is yellow in color because it was filtered through the kidneys of a Dane first! The real story is as follows:
In 1805, back during the days of sailing ships, a Norwegian merchant exported Aquavit to Indonesia using huge oak wine barrels. The constant rocking and the heat of the trip crossing the Equator caused the formerly clear liquid to take on a yellow color from the oak barrels. When it arrived in the tropics, the buyer took a taste and said, “This stuff has spoiled,” and rejected the cargo. The ship’s owner took it back to Norway, where the sellers sampled the Aquavit and pronounced, “Hoo! Ha! Dis stuff iss beddar den ven it vas shipped!” (at least the Norwegian equivalent). To this day, Norwegian Aquavit will be yellow in color, it will have the word linie (line, or Equator in Norwegian), and as I tell people, “Norwegians don’t always read so good, don’t ya know,” so it will have a picture of a sailing ship. The liquor must be certified that it has been on a ship of Norwegian Registry twice across the Equator - a voyage to nowhere.
When drinking Aquavit, it is usually served very cold - from the bottom of the freezer. It is served in a stemmed glass, not much larger than a large thimble (so it is not warmed up in the hand) when drinking by themselves, not toasting friends. Scandinavians take their Aquavit in small doses - sometimes three times a day, usually at mealtime, and the entire daily consumption is not much more than a single shot.
The Aquavit consumption, however, is rarely done alone. It is a community ceremony. Proper manners decree that the Aquavit be poured for all first, then each person takes their glass. The host raises the glass and looks directly into the eyes of every guest before toasting, “Skol!” (To your health).
Aquavit is never sipped. The small glass is thrown straight down. In this way, it is as much a social gathering and communion with others as it is a drink.
I hope that you enjoyed learning about Aquavit!
Birthdays and anniversaries:
• Thursday, January 5th: Olivia Pauline Christopherson, Devon Mark Born, Pat Simon King, Warren Kelly, Randy Paulson, Jay Neitzel, Amy Kasper, Nash Petranek, Janelle Nielsen, Melinda & Ray Talamantes.
• Friday, January 6th: Mallory Anna Schlinger, Marianne Christensen, Kevin Jensen, Tammy Busho, Todd Nelson.
• Saturday, January 7th: Rodney Peterson, Gary Ayers, Stacy Jensen Pirkl, Karina Thompson.
• Sunday, January 8th: (Elvis Presley) Cameron Schember, Mike Marcus, Terry Pelzl, Dan Reese, David Jensen, Ryan Benning, Jennifer Rechtzigel, Brandon Borchert, John & Melissa Marlin.
• Monday, January 9th: Melinda Hanson Talamanates, Lisa Dunn Wayne, Mark Lee, Adam Deml, Jay Wangsness, Steve Vanden Heuvel, Becky Wayne Clark, Larry Jensen, Allen Dobberstein, Allan Swearingen, Dan & Lavonne Nelson.
• Tuesday, January 10th: Sue Hunnicutt, Gary Nelson, Eldert & Avis DeRaad, Robert & Eleanor Leiser.
• Wednesday, January 11th: Joyce Sward, Melissa Farr, Rick Hanson, Nanko DeRaad, Deb Robertson Hare, Brad Nelson, Kelly Reichl, Alvin & Ardys Nelson, Dennis & Barb Grunwald.
May the year ahead bring you a world of pleasures.
