Nissefar

If only Christmas lasted through the year

It’s not exactly Christmas anymore. That is, unless you like the old Danish Christmas song, believe that Christmas lasts until Easter. Translating loosely into “the daddy of Santa’s helpers”, Nissefar is an old-fashioned style rum cocktail that, if it could only be had during Christmas, would leave you wishing that Christmas lasted until, well, Christmas.

12yr old Plantation barbados rum is a delicious drink neat, but the addition of overproof Goslings rum, nutty black walnut bitters, a sweet-spiced hint of cardamom and the deep, dark sweetness of maple syrup was apparently a “no brainer” according to Anze Pihler. In fact, he didn’t even have to try twice to make this cocktail perfect, he says. And perfect it is.

4,5 cl Plantation Barbados 12yr rum (or El Dorado 12 yr)

1,5 cl Goslings Dark Overproof

2 barspoons of Maple Syrup

1 dash Bitter Bastards cardamom bitters

2 dashes Fee Brothers black walnut bitters

Stir with ice and strain over a large icecube, garnish with an organge twist

In the instructions above, it may say “a large ice cube”, but if you have the chance, you really should drop by Atze Peng, order a Nissefar and watch as Anze chops off a chunk of ice from the big block sitting on his bartop, carves it into a cube, then a diamond, then a multi-edged sphere, and lastly burns it to achieve a perfectly rounded, crystal clear sphere. Placed in your glass with your upgraded rum old-fashioned this is not only a pleasure for your palate, but also your eyes.

Ice sphere1 Ice sphere2

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Martin Millard
Corporate slut by day, cocktail enthusiast by night. On a neverending path to become cocktail expert, partly through visiting Copenhagen's and the world's best watering holes, partly through an ever-expanding homebar. #whiskeywednesdays makes every humpday a good one.