Ah yes, Brennivín, the drink that gave Vikings a fire in their belly to raid English towns. A drink so strong we could withstand little-ice-age, volcanic eruptions and Mist Hardships (read about it).

Record scratch……….

No. No, it isn’t. Bennivín, as we know it, is a lot younger than that. “Only” 84 years old to be exact. In human years? sure, it’s old. In dog years? who knows. Bark bark.

Let’s dial time back a bit, to the year 1915. After pressure from The Templars, we decided to ban alcohol. No more parties! zero, zip, zilch, nada. The ban wasn’t lifted until 1935, that’s twenty years later if you’re good at math. If you discount the fact we allowed Spanish riojas from 1922 and onwards. But we were forced to, the Spaniards insisted that they wouldn’t buy our bacalao (salted fish) from us unless we’d buy something in return. As we all know Spain doesn’t produce great food like ham, olive oil, vegetable, fruits etc etc.. so we had to accept their wine. It was the only option.

Like we said, alcohol was allowed again in 1935. Except for beer. Because of reasons. Don’t argue with it. Since foreign liquor was probably thought of as riddled with diseases the state-owned liquor store started making their own stuff: brennivín. Brennivín means “burnt wine” just so you know. Brennivín also is a generic term for alcohol. Sometimes we say “Icelandic brennivín” when we’re talking about Brennivín

Black death

Brennvín has for a long time, in Iceland, been referred to as black death. Famous for its black label that was supposed to deter people from buying it. Instead, of course, made it edgy and cool among the kids. A fitting name giving its rough taste and our morbid sense of humour.

So what about the Black Death brand, you know the one on Slash’s T-shirt?

Well, that’s not THE black death Icelanders drink, but a brand, started by an Icelander that claims it’s a 1906 recipe. Fun fact: Slash was in a lot of trouble advertising Black Death since it’s you know a tragic disease that killed millions. Black death vodka was never produced in Iceland, we’re not even sure it was available here.

So Brennivín is the only thing we drink?

You guessed it: NO. While everyone has tried it and probably have a bottle of it at home. Brennivín isn’t really that popular. Low-end whiskeys are more popular for instance. Our bottle is reserved for when a foreign friend visits so we can get them to taste and see their expression while claiming that it’s the drink of choice. Just like rotten shark and skate!

The recipe for Brennivín might have a reference in some bootleg liquor in Iceland but the influence is Nordic. Brennivín is a type of aquavit or in Icelandic ákavíti. Derived from the Latin word aqua vitae. While Scandinavian ákavíti is flavoured with a rich selection of herbs and spices like dill, oranges, berries, cumin, cardamom, anise and fennel the Icelandic one is solely flavoured with caraway seed. Not because we’re purists but probably because that’s the only thing that grows wild in Iceland. No, it’s because we’re purists…

This is a DIY recipe, we don’t know how the producers do it.

Here’s the complicated list of ingredients:

• 750ml of any vodka (we used triple distilled)
• 1 tbs of caraway seeds

Method:

Combine the caraway seeds and vodka in an airtight container and store for 3-4 days. It should take on some colour from the seeds. And once ready, strain the seeds from the vodka and enjoy.

How to serve

Brennivín is usually offered neat during Þorrablót. Don’t worry, we’ll get to Þorrablót later. Talking about a shark, it’s usually served alongside it. It’s best served ice cold, straight from the freezer, in a shot glass. Another way of drinking it is by mixing it with Coke. But that’s a terrible way to ruin a perfectly bad Brennivin.

Gjörið svo vel.

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