Brennivín
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Brennivín is an Icelandic schnapps, considered the country's signature alcoholic beverage. It is made from fermented potato pulp, and flavoured with cumin, caraway seeds or angelica. It is sometimes called “black death”. Also at times it is drunk as a "chaser" after sampling "hákarl", which consists of putrified shark meat, to mask the meat's taste. The word brennivín literally translates into English as 'burning wine'. Despite its unofficial status as national beverage, many Icelanders do not actually drink it, and a majority of the ones who do, drink it only when feeling patriotic or when trying to impress foreign visitors.
This general distaste for the drink can be attributed partly to its strong taste and high alcohol content (37.5% ABV) and partly due to its reputation. Despite the fact that Iceland presses huge taxes on most alcoholic beverages, brennivín is actually one of the cheapest liquors available in the national alcohol store, Vínbúð, and is thus often associated with alcoholics.
Brennivín is similar to other Scandinavian spirits, especially the Danish Akvavit. It also has a flavor akin to The Norwegian Linie and Swedish Aquavit. In Swedish it is also called brännvin. The steeping of herbs in vodka to create Schnapps is a long-held folk tradition in all Scandinavian countries. Brennivín is featured in the Halldor Laxness novel Iceland's Bell.
The label used to have the letters ÁTVR inside the circle but they were replaced by a coastal outline of Iceland.
Iceland leads the world in per capita consumption of Coca-Cola and historically its primary use was to mask the flavour of Brennivín.
