How to make New Nordic Cocktails in Copenhagen

New Nordic is a bit of a buzzword in Copenhagen, a style of cuisine that’s all about looking at what’s in your back garden and presenting it in new ways. And now it seems we can apply the description to cocktails in Copenhagen!

New Nordic might mean taking the best from the forest and the sea and adding a twist of the unexpected. Or using the ingredients your granny served up to you during your childhood and combining them in an unusual way. It’s fresh, it’s local and it’s very Danish. But what about New Nordic Cocktails?

While I was staying at the delightful Kurhotel Skodsborg just outside Copenhagen, I had the pleasure of tasting a few New Nordic cocktails that had been created by leading Copenhagen bartender, Gromit Eduardsen. Gromit has been my go-to cocktail guy ever since I met him mixing his award-winning Copenhagen cocktail.

He now runs a cocktail place at Copenhagen Street Food as well as working with a number of leading hotels to create their cocktails.

Cocktails at Kurhotel Skodsborg

My daughter is also a fan of the well-mixed cocktail and together we enjoyed tasting a few of the popular cocktails that Gromit had created at Kurhotel Skodsborg. Just in case you’d like to taste along at home, Gromit kindly shared the recipes to the ones that we tried as well as the inspiration that went into them.

I hope you enjoy the video below on how to make a New Nordic Whiskey Sour

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Clover-Club Cocktail

My daughter’s choice was a Clover Club cocktail; pink, frothy and totally feminine, garnished with a fresh raspberry. Although it looks like a woman’s drink, Gromit told me how this classic cocktail from the 1900s actually originated in a Philadelphia Gentleman’s Club.

At that time, the gin imported from London was considered a luxury and the fresh lemon juice and raspberry syrup made this a cocktail that would be enjoyed on a sunny summer afternoon by those who had little care or need to return to the office.

Ingredients: 50ml Tanqueray Gin, 30 ml fresh lemon juice, 20 ml raspberry syrup, 10 ml sugar syrup, 1 egg white

Put ice in your cocktail shaker, add the gin, lemon juice, raspberry syrup, sugar syrup and egg white & shake as hard as possible to create a foam with the egg white. Strain into a chilled champagne coupe and garnish with a fresh raspberry.

Grapefruit Smash Cocktail

My choice was the Grapefruit Smash, another classic cocktail that takes the best parts of a Mojito cocktail and gives it a refreshing grapefruit twist. While Gromit is the first to admit that most bartenders would rather invent something new, the customers love the classics, so he is always looking for ways to make them a little different.

Ingredients: 50 ml Diplimatico Blanco rum (or any crisp white rum), 15 ml sugar syrup, 30 ml ginger ale, a dash of Peychaud’s bitters 3 slices pink grapefruit, 2 lime wedges, 4 fresh mint sprigs

Put the fresh mint in bottom of glass with the lime & grapefruit wedges and muddle to release the juice and aromatics. Fill the glass with crushed ice, add the rum, sugar syrup and bitters then stir and top up with ginger ale.

New Nordic Whiskey Sour

Both my daughter and I enjoyed tasting one of the most popular cocktails on the menu, a New Nordic Whiskey Sour. This classic cocktail was invented in the 1850s but in the 1990s was modernised by cocktail makers who included red wine as their new ingredient.

The Nordic twist in the Whiskey Sour is a cherry wine from Frederiksdal, on the island of Lolland, where the cherries grow in the orchard of a castle, are picked, macerated and the wine left to mature in oak barrels. The oak flavours of the wine partner perfectly with the smoky bourbon whiskey.

Cherries are a popular summer fruit in Denmark and families would traditionally make their own cherry wine or bottle the fruit steeped in alcohol. Apparently the Frederiksdal cherry wine is going down a storm in Hong Kong, where cherries are a symbol of wealth for the Chinese.

Ingredients: 50ml bourbon (Maker’s Mark) whiskey, 30ml fresh lemon juice, 30ml sugar syrup, 1 egg white, Frederiksdal cherry wine, 1 maraschino cherry and lemon rind to garnish

Put the liquids in a cocktail shaker with ice, shake and drain into a glass, garnish with a zest of lemon and maraschino cherry and drizzle Frederiksdal cherry wine on top.

Tasting cocktails and more at Kurhotel Skodsborg

I highly recommend a stay at Kurhotel Skodsborg where we tried the New Nordic Cocktails. The hotel is a leading Nordic spa hotel, overlooking the sea and with outstanding health and fitness facilities.

We loved hanging out in the stylish lounge, relaxing in the different pools of the spa and jumping off the private jetty to cool off after a sauna. The hotel is just a 30 minute train ride from central Copenhagen and a relaxing base to explore the beautiful coastline north of Copenhagen.

Thanks to Kurhotel Skodsborg for inviting us to stay and enjoy their New Nordic cocktails

Gromit and the Nordic Bar Syndicate

Gromit Eduardsen is a leading figure in the cocktail scene in Denmark and you can find out more on his Nordic Bar Syndicate website, including the hotels where you can taste his cocktails and his cocktail stand at Copenhagen Street Food on Paper Island.

Plan your trip to Copenhagen

For more information about things to do in and around Copenhagen, check out the Visit Copenhagen website as well as the Visit Denmark website for other parts of Denmark.

We flew with Scandinavian Airlines from London Heathrow to Copenhagen. SAS fly several times a day to and from London to Copenhagen giving you a choice of times to make the most of your time in Copenhagen.

On arrival take the train direct to the centre of Copenhagen or to Kurhotel Skodsborg on the coastal line stopping at Skodsborg.

We used the Copenhagen Card which covers free public transport around Copenhagen as well as free or reduced price entry to many of the attractions in and around Copenhagen.

More things to do in Copenhagen

Light, Air, Water – finding a healthy holiday in Copenhagen – healthy tips for rest and relaxation on your spa break by the sea in Copenhagen

10 summertime cool things to do in Copenhagen – rent an apartment to live like a local and enjoy the summer in Copenhagen

Like Mother Like Daughter – What we loved on our trip to Copenhagen – Here are some things to do in Copenhagen that mothers and daughters will both enjoy.

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This article is originally published at Heatheronhertravels.com

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