Malort [TRADE PAPER ]

As I am someone who has grown to actually like Mal?rt, you may doubt my taste. But Josh Noels exploration of this most maligned spirit is funny, fascinating, and surprisingly delicious. John Hodgman, comedian and author ofMedallion Status

• A Top 4 Finalist for the Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Award for Best New Book on Drinks Culture, History, or Spirits
• Short-Listed by theChicago Review of Booksfor Nonfiction Book of the Year 2025

Mal?rt may be the worst thing youll ever taste.
Known primarily for its intense bitterness, the infamous Chicago liqueur has been compared to a forest fire, if the forest was made of earwax. Yet lurking in the horror and the mockery lies the truth of Mal?rt: we keep going back for more. For nearly a hundred years, weve gone back.
Jeppsons Mal?rt could have died a hundred deaths in that time. Its survival wasnt always a given. It also was no accident. There was one mans dogged persistence. One womans patience and dedication. There were cultural shifts and fortunate timing that helped transform a drink rooted in centuries-old Swedish tradition into the American sensation it is today.
Mal?rtis a story of love, relationships, and how one generation finds meaning where generations before did not. Such transformations happen in art, in history, and in food, and it happened to Jeppsons Mal?rt.
Author and beer expert Josh Noel unpacks a uniquely American tale, equal parts culture, business, and personal relationshipsinvolving secret love, federal prison, a David vs. Goliath court battle, and, ultimately, the 2018 sale of Jeppsons Mal?rt, which made Pat Gabelick, a 75-year-old Chicago woman who spent much of her life as a legal secretary, into an unlikely millionaire.
Mal?rtisnt just the story of one brazen liquorit is the story of modern tastes and cultural shifts.
 

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