We’ve “skåled” a lot of people over the past four months. After explaining the history of the Skoal Project and the significance of the great Max von Sydow (can you believe that there are people out there who still haven’t heard about this?), we set them on their mark and let them do their thing: 1) Mug it for the camera, 2) Knock it back, 3) Return to your original pose except bring the intensity. There’s an unofficial fourth step: Asking “What is this delicious thing I’m drinking and where can I buy it?”
Ice cold aquavit (in the hands of Tad Low, TV producer).
That smooth and delicious caraway-flavored liquor is aquavit, the traditional Swedish skoaling drink of choice. Our particular brand of aquavit can only be tasted if you come here to skål with Nils and Dave because we make it in-house using our rotovap.
We start with a liter of neutral vodka like Smirnoff, then blend in 32 g toasted caraway seeds and 32 g untoasted caraway seeds using a Vita Prep. We distill the vodka and caraway mixture by taste, usually pulling out about 650 ml of final product. Finally, we add a little simple syrup (for body, not for sweetness), filtered water (we bring it back to about 90 proof), and a tiny pinch of salt to balance flavors.
Sounds good, right? Well, it is. So good that some skål subjects request a retake just to sneak in another glass. That’s fine by us. We’ll keep churning out the aquavit until we reach our goal of skåling the world, one person at a time.
BTW: We also make a non-alcoholic skoal for those who do not wish to drink liquor. We’ll tell you about it soon.
So what? you intend to skoal everyone? I’m in! where do I sign up?
I think we can get Aquavit at La Castellana… We should skoal…
Anytime CookieJesus. Are you in the NY area?
You mean Mexico’s “La Castellana”? I’m in Monterrey, where are you at? Even so… It wouldn’t the homemade rotovap stuff these guys make hehe…
Did you get the package Dave?
You bet. That stuff is great, thanks! We’ll wait for you to come on Fri to give you your bottle. WordPress won’t let me post our tequila skoal in this comment, but click the url on my name to go to it.
Haha… great picture! Glad you liked it!
But I won’t be going to NY on Friday (I wish)… I’m going to the address I posted… Roberto Wise, Sunchase IV, 1000 Padre Blvd Unit 212, South Padre Island, TX, 78597…
Need to get some sun on my skin hehe…
Too bad you can’t make it to NYC on Friday, hopefully soon though. We will ship the bottle to that address today.
Thanks Nils! and yeah, tell me about it… I want to attend one of your intensives sometime soon…
I hope the bottle arrives in time and will send you the photos monday next week… Thanks!
I wish I were in NY, Dave. I’m in Monterrey just as Patricio. But if can get Jessica Botta Skoaled, that would rock, if she’s still at FCI…
Dave: If you send us a batch of your homemade aquavit we’ll send you the pictures of us skoaling… we’ll even do one set with tequila (wish I could say homemade… no rotovap) and we can compare the different photos as a cultural experiment… hehehe
Tell you what: We’ll send some aquavit if you send tequila! 462 Broadway, NY NY 10013.
She is still here. We’ll get her skål soon.
You’ve got yourself a deal!! I do warn you though… It is NOT homemade in a rotovap hehe… Roberto Wise, Sunchase IV, 1000 Padre Blvd. Unit 212, 78597… I’ll be there next friday the 26th… you should have the tequila by then, if not I’ll mail it then and there…
I’d love to try skoaling!
Is it called skål or scoal?
Interesting, perhaps I’ll try it making it for a party sometime.
Cheers,
W
The first