How do you feel about using beetroot in drinks? The root vegetable is either loved or loathed, but we think that this recipe is a great argument as to why you might want to include the divisive veg in your next drink.
The earthy flavour of this drink might not be for everyone, but if you’re a fan of beetroot then this could hit the spot.
Pronounced as ‘vaseer’, this drink from the stiff, spirit-forward section of the Mjølner Sydney menu is earthy, a little bitter, and much delicious.
And that’s thanks to the beetroot sweet vermouth they make in-house.
“I find beetroot to be the most interesting ingredient,” says the drink’s creator, Ben Hunter. “It’s also got the bartenders’ flavour in it, Fernet Branca, and a hit of licorice root as well.”
Hunter takes 750ml of sweet vermouth and adds 20g of dehyrdrated beetroot and sits it in the fridge to infuse for two days; for the licorice root syrup, they take 5g of licorice root powder and add it to 500ml water and 500g of sugar and cook it gently on low heat to make a syrup, which is then strained through a chinois and oil filter.
Mjølner Sydney’s Kvasir:
- 20 ml beetroot sweet vermouth
- 5 ml licorice root syrup
- 2.5 ml maraschino liqueur
- 2.5 ml Fernet-Branca
- 3 dash Angostura aromatic bitters