Aquavit is a botanical spirit flavored primarily with caraway, traditional to the Nordic countries. Like many other botanical spirits, it began as a tonic, and was said to cure any number of ailments. One of the first written records of this wondrous spirit was found in 1531, in a letter to the Danish Lord Eske Bille.
Each Nordic country has a slightly different tradition in terms of how they make aquavit; many use grain as the base spirit, and Norway prefers to make their base spirit from potatoes. Some countries, such as Sweden and Norway, prefer to age their aquavit in wood barrels, while others bottle it unaged. However, most of the Nordic countries share a similar practice of drinking their aquavit chilled in small glasses, usually with food and at holidays such as Christmas or midsummer.
The largest brands of aquavit come from the Nordic countries of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, and Finland, however, there is a growing number of US craft distillers who also make aquavit.
Aquavit is a distilled spirit that gets its flavor primarily by distilling caraway. However, each producer adds additional botanicals such as dill, coriander, fennel, star anise, or citrus. Similarly to how gin is made, many producers macerate botanicals in the still or place them in a basket. As the spirit is distilled, the alcohol traps the flavor compounds from the botanicals and carries them into the spirit. After distillation the aquavit is bottled unaged, then proofed down with the addition of water until it reaches the desired bottling strength. If aged, the high strength aquavit is placed in barrels until it is ready to be bottled.
A traditionally Nordic spirit, aquavit gets its name from the Latin term for distilled spirits aqua vita, meaning water of life.
A biennial plant in the carrot family, caraway is a flowering plant that is primarily cultivated for its seeds which are used to flavor drinks (aquavit, kummel) as well as salads, soups, stews, and breads.
A term used in the Nordic countries to refer to the process of drinking aquavit in one snappy movement. Schnapps/aquavit should not be confused with German schnapps which can refer to fruit brandy, or American schnapps which refers to flavored liqueurs.