Bäsk is a Swedish-style liquor flavored with wormwood ("malört" in Swedish) or

anise Anise (; '), also called aniseed or rarely anix, is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae native to the eastern Mediterranean region and Southwest Asia. The flavor and aroma of its seeds have similarities with some other spices and herbs, ...

. Sweden is one of the few countries that has never banned

absinthe Absinthe (, ) is an anise-flavored Liquor, spirit derived from several plants, including the flowers and leaves of ''Artemisia absinthium'' ("grand wormwood"), together with green anise, sweet fennel, and other medicinal and culinary herbs. His ...

or other wormwood-flavored liquors. ''Bäsk'' is an old alternative spelling of the word ''besk'' which means "bitter". In the United States, the

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

-based brand

Jeppson's Malört Jeppson's Malört is an American brand of bäsk liqueur, a type of brännvin flavored with anise or wormwood. Malört was introduced in Chicago in the 1930s and was long produced by the Carl Jeppson Company. In 2018, as its last employee was r ...

is one of the most well-known versions of the liquor. In Sweden, the most popular brand is ''Bäska droppar'' by O.P. Anderson Distillery. Bäsk is said to be good for

digestion Digestion is the breakdown of large insoluble food compounds into small water-soluble components so that they can be absorbed into the blood plasma. In certain organisms, these smaller substances are absorbed through the small intestine into th ...

, and therefore is traditionally associated with fatty foods.

References

Distilled drinks Culture of Sweden Bitters Swedish distilled drinks {{distilled-drink-stub

See also

References