The North Land Reviver
Bring the beat back!
“Working in a cocktail bar is like acting on a stage which I did as a kid. To me it’s the perfect mix of performance, customer interaction and creativity.“ – Marianna Kozanyiova
Marianna is originally from Bratislava in Slovakia. She moved to Copenhagen in 2015 to study design and business. Here she quickly made friends with people from the cocktail scene and was inspired to learn the craft. In 2016 she got a job at Curfew where the owner Humberto Marques offered her the training she was looking for.
“I started at Curfew as a bar-back and the owner Humberto Marques offered me the opportunity to become a bartender and taught me everything I know. After several months, I moved up behind the bar and earned the privilege to wear the Curfew shoulder straps.”
Marianna’s dedication fused with training from an experienced mentor brought good results. Recently she won the Danish finals of the world’s biggest gin cocktail competition Mixldn 2017 with her tasty cocktail The North Land Reviver:
5cl Beefeater London Dry gin
3cl buckthorn, dill and caraway oxymel*
1,5cl lemon juice
1,5cl Lillet Blanc
2 sprays of absinthe
2 dashes of orange bittersPour all ingredients into a shaker, add ice, shake well and double strain into chilled rimmed glass. Garnish: Dry buckthorn powder rim**
*An oxymel is made to preserve flavors like a shrub. The core of oxymel consists of vinegar (oxy = acid), honey (= mel) and herbs whereas a schrub is made with sugar and often made to preserve berries rather than herbs. To make this specific oxymel blend together vinegar, honey, dill, caraway and buckthorn berries. “slow cook” the ingredients in a Sous Vide machine at 60 °C for 30 minutes. This process blends all the flavors together and brings out the herbal flavors, so the sour taste of buckthorn berries is not overpowering. Finally fine strain the oxymel before using it in the cocktail.
**Blend dry frozen buckthorn berries into a powder. Rim the cocktail glass with absinthe and apply the powder.
The cocktail revives the Nordic flavours of the Danish national spirit Akvavit by using its two main flavor components dill and caraway (download our free ebook on aquavit cocktails for more inspiraiton), along with local sour buckthorn berries in an oxymel. The absinth spray enhances the botanicals of the mix while the bitters adds dryness and the fortified wine add fruitiness to complement the gin.
“It’s clear that Marianna has developed a huge passion for the industry and craft of bartending.
The Nothland Reviver is a really well thought out drink and her inspiration is clearly seen in the ingredients. The balance and aroma is perfect and the Beefeater gin really shines through. I would absolutely order it in her bar!”
– Sumaiyah Connolly, Global Brand Ambassador for Beefeater and Plymouth
This is a seriously well balanced cocktail with enough edge for you to to want to come back to it again and again. Try it out at Curfew and wish Marianna good luck for the global finals of the Mixldn competition in London!
“Winning the Danish finals is the next important step for me. I see it as a wonderful recognition and a huge responsibility.” – Marianna
Read about the Mixldn competition here. Or follow our Facebook site, Instagram profile or monthly newsletter to have inspiration on craft cocktails from the best bars in Copenhagen delivered straight to your feed or indbox.
Beefeater MIXLDN7 Danish Final 2017 from Pernod Ricard Denmark on Vimeo.
