Trojan Horse Malört
Bartender Julia Miles makes clever use of the iconic Chicago spirit at Refuge
The Extra Bitter: Cascade Hops-Infused Lillet, Malort, Suze, Aperol, Miller High Life, Grapefruit Zest, Grapefruit Slice | Photo: Alexander Zeren
Jokes are usually harmless. Sometimes a joke can go too far. And sometimes, in the case of Bartender Julia Miles, it can result in a strangely exceptional cocktail. While R&Ding new drinks for Refuge, Owner-Bartender Bobby Heugel gave Miles an assignment. “We were seeing more bitterness in bars,” she explains. “We wanted to take the negroni trend and push it more … while not using Campari, vermouth, or gin, but using beer in some type of way.” With all these parameters, Miles set out to do something a little mischievous. “I had an idea—as a joke—that we would put [Jeppson's] Malört in it. [Malört] tastes like if an IPA was a liqueur. And I was so excited to be using something kind of silly. It took the drink in a different direction.” From there, the Extra Bitter was born.
To build off of the ever-polarizing Malört, Miles decided to emulate a classic shandy. Inspired by a hops-infused cocktail they had tried prior, they chose to do the same. Miles infuses Cascade hops in Lillet Blanc for four hours to introduce some citrus notes to the floral aperitif. “It was a lot of fun researching all the hops.” To add some depth and to ground the lightness of the drink, Miles reached for the frozen bottle of Jägermeister behind the bar, kept mainly as an inside joke amongst the bar team (“I was just trying to pull the silliest things I could”). Still looking for that “punchy bitterness,” Miles turned to Suze. Despite Suze being her "least favorite thing ever invented,” she knew the aperitif would add another layer of grapefruit and gentian notes. While wanting to keep the drink bitter, Miles also wanted to keep it balanced. She added a touch of Aperol to continue the grapefruit notes of the Cascade hops and to reference a negroni’s Campari component without actually using it. After a few dashes of saline solution, the drink is batched and frozen. For service, the ice cold cocktail is topped with a float of Miller High Life and a slice of grapefruit to “pull the citrus notes from the Aperol.”
Although the Extra Bitter was never intended to be a crushable crowd-pleaser, the drink has more than a few fans. “The guests that enjoy it say it takes away the worst part of Malört. It tastes pretty juicy.” And, even though the drink is predominantly Malört, Miles made it a point to leave the ingredient off the menu to not put off Refuge’s patrons, making for some fun “gotcha moments.” The cocktail has also led to the addition of Malört to the backbar, the first time in the bar’s history. “Everyone thinks I love Malört, but I honestly don't. I was just trying to annoy my managers,” Miles laughs.
The Extra Bitter has also been a huge win for Miles professionally, bolstering her drink-making and encouraging her to think outside the glass. “This was the second menu I worked on. This was the first drink that showed me that I love, and tend to be more successful with, drinks that aren’t too serious. It makes me a lot more confident. Like, girl if you can make a Malört-Jäger-High Life cocktail, you can figure it out.”
