What in the world is "kummel"?

[JJShanley]

There's a Scottish-produced version of it from Lucky Distillers, as I understand it. Amber in colour, rather than clear.

[Bill Seitz]

Am I the only one who enjoys Kummel?


Can't remember if we had any at Muirfield, but we most definitely had(at least) a second serving of aiming fluid at Prestwick before teeing off, sitting in the tiny bar above the first tee-a good hole to arrive relaxed on.

I enjoy Kummel and as they say when in Rome....

We need to have some of you "up for anything" types to Chicago for some Malort.  From the label:


"Most first-time drinkers of Jeppson Malört reject our liquor. Its strong, sharp taste is not for everyone. Our liquor is rugged and unrelenting (even brutal) to the palate. During almost 60 years of American distribution, we found only 1 out of 49 men will drink Jeppson Malört. During the lifetime of our founder, Carl Jeppson was apt to say, 'My Malört is produced for that unique group of drinkers who disdain light flavor or neutral spirits.' It is not possible to forget our two-fisted liquor. The taste just lingers and lasts – seemingly forever. The first shot is hard to swallow! Perservere [sic]. Make it past two 'shock-glasses' and with the third you could be ours... forever."

[Sean_A]

Am I the only one who enjoys Kummel?


Can't remember if we had any at Muirfield, but we most definitely had(at least) a second serving of aiming fluid at Prestwick before teeing off, sitting in the tiny bar above the first tee-a good hole to arrive relaxed on.

I enjoy Kummel and as they say when in Rome....

We need to have some of you "up for anything" types to Chicago for some Malort.  From the label:


"Most first-time drinkers of Jeppson Malört reject our liquor. Its strong, sharp taste is not for everyone. Our liquor is rugged and unrelenting (even brutal) to the palate. During almost 60 years of American distribution, we found only 1 out of 49 men will drink Jeppson Malört. During the lifetime of our founder, Carl Jeppson was apt to say, 'My Malört is produced for that unique group of drinkers who disdain light flavor or neutral spirits.' It is not possible to forget our two-fisted liquor. The taste just lingers and lasts – seemingly forever. The first shot is hard to swallow! Perservere [sic]. Make it past two 'shock-glasses' and with the third you could be ours... forever."

Sounds like the guy who developed this stuff was related to the the guy behind Green Chartreuse. 🤮

Ciao

[Bill Seitz]

Sounds like the guy who developed this stuff was related to the the guy behind Green Chartreuse. 🤮

Ciao

I probably had about 10 shots of Malort over a period of years before I knew what it tasted like.  The redeeming quality of Malort is that you usually drink it at the end of a very long evening that you are not likely to remember the next day.

[Gib_Papazian]

How strange. I was wandering around Chicago in July after a round with Brother Shivas at Exmoor, when I stumbled upon a fabulous rooftop bar a couple blocks from the river inlet.


I asked the Barkeep what kind of high-octane Mezcal he had - being in a perverse mood and waiting for the pills to soften up my sore back - when he asked if I'd like to try a piece of Chicago history. On the house I might add.


So, I got the whole story of Carl Jeppson and his blown out taste buds - before he inflicted what tasted suspiciously like a combination of Pine-Sol and absinthe . . . . a shot of something so vile, not even a desperate alcoholic could choke down more than a few drops.


Not wishing to insult the Barkeep - pretending to enjoy a shot of his own and who wryly suggested an effete bozo from "Frisco" might not have manly enough chops to finish a jigger of viciously toxic poison - I picked up the gauntlet and defended my manhood.


But little by little - between healthy quaffs of Old Style (just to keep it real) - I managed to drain the last droplets of nitric acid, but did not ask for another.


I figured out they like to assault foreign newbies (they consider anybody not from the Midwest from a different planet) at the bar with Jeppson's Malort as a right of passage - or some kind of test of your machismo.


A couple (full rip, SEC Southerners - so an easy target) came tottering in and no sooner had they sat down, Mr. Barkeep (30-something, ripped, handsome and completely full of shit and mischief) winked at me and after they ordered, ran the same hustle on the beefy hubby, sporting a Seminoles jersey.


"Free drink to go with my beer? Sure, love to!"


I noticed wifey (young Dolly Parton doppelganger, with all the trimmins') got served a Cosmo, since that trick only gets played on boys, apparently.


Well, Seminoles are clearly not as tough as Trojans, because that ol' boy took a serious snort of that shit and I swear literally spit it on the bar and his pants.


"What the hell is that stuff? That's not really for people to drink, right?"


Got to hear the same legend of Carl Jeppson all over again, so it must be part of the regular schtick. I left the Barkeep a great tip, primarily because he gave me with a great story - although thinking I'd probably never have a chance to share it. One more reason to hang in the Treehouse.


I also have never heard or read the word "Kummel" since reading Stephen Potters' book in my youth. My curiosity being piqued, I'm going to get on my scooter and head down to our gourmet liquor store (locals have run it since I was a child) and pledge to buy a bottle of Kummel to try.


They *do* have it in stock, I just looked it up.


More later . . . . . it might need to be adopted as the official drink of Ran's Treehouse.


We should also keep a bottle of Malort under the bar, to be reserved as punishment for heresy - like suggesting Pasatiempo is a marginal golf course. Barny and Brauer get the first flask of hemlock, so enjoy it. 


 


   

[Gib_Papazian]

Weimax in Burlingame never fails. I have procured a bottle of "Societem Anonyme De Liquers Combier Saumur Doppelt KUMMEL Extra."


Gotta tell you, I have no clue what those French words mean - I'll look it up after Tucker - but it is absolutely delicious. Most liqueurs have a single note, you dig? Grand Marnier - even the finest Tequilas or a Single Malt from the most wonderfully obscure, so fucking far in the highlands you can walk to John O' Groats, is peddling one form or another of deliciously smokey or high-flavor alcohol blasts.


Scotch, Bourbon or Tequila blends (wine, different thing) don't suggest four different flavors at once - without any of them being overpowering. I really like this stuff and see Stephen Potter's point.


Pulling this out of memory, because I am too lazy to search my idiotically out-of-fucking-control golf and cinema library, Potter's prescription for playing your best golf, partly exists in the "Kummel Scale."


I'm sure - since the dumbest person here knows more golf history than 99.9% of the world - I'll be corrected before I have a chance to dig up the book. However, it is my recollection that somewhere around two Kummels would loosen the joints and save a couple strokes, four Kummels would add four strokes, but that six Kummels would have the same effect of two.


Her Redness is right, this is the only place on the internet you can have a serious conversation about some obscure French/Scottish liqueur and pivot immediately to a crazy theory.


Evidently, Kummel originally comes from 16th Century Netherlands - or so says a search of the notoriously unreliable internet. But, if that factoid is true, the connective tissue between Kummel and golf might be found in the Dutch Delft Tiles that C.B. Macdonald chose for the NGLA logo.


There has to be some reason it became associated so closely with golf that Stephen Potter (a Brit) referred to it as if a commonplace in every clubhouse bar.


Feel free to have me committed . . . . . 






 


   

[Kalen Braley]

Gib,

I've really been enjoying your last few posts.  Given this thread is already OT, do you have any recommendations of movies to watch that score high on your cinematography scale?

I recently watched The White Lotus limited series and enjoyed it thoroughly as the talking points basically touch everything in current culture.  But a nice bonus was the cinematography and music, really added to it the experience!

[Gib_Papazian]

If the question is what cinematographic masterpiece goes good with Kummel, I've got some suggestions.


I'll assume you're familiar with John Alcott's "Barry Lyndon" - the most beautiful film ever shot - the perfect collaborator with Kubrick.


Some personal favorites, old and new:


Being a lifelong admirer of Gordon Willis, "Manhattan" is an essay on perfect B&W cinematography. One fabulous work nobody ever discusses is Woody's Bergman pastiche - "Interiors." It is an masterclass on unique framing with a viciously dark and moody (almost morose) aesthetic.


If you've never seen Dariusz Wolski's "Dark City," the visual imagery (even if it has some Sci Fi corniness) jumped off the screen to me.


I'll also assume you've been "Birdman" - if nothing else, for Chivo Lubezki's insanely complicated, no-cutaway sequences.


Nearly anything Seamus McGarvey shot (Anna Karenina) or Bruno Delbonnel (Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children) is worth a look, but those two are extremely impressive.


I loved the look of Rob Richardson's "Hateful Eight" - and for indie kind of films, "Nebraska" and "Whiplash" had simple, elegant perfection.


Anything Roger Deakins shot is worth shutting off the sound and just marveling at the economy and crispness of purpose - "Sicario."


But at the end of the day, Storaro is still God. You may or may not like "Wonder Wheel" or "Cafe Society" as narrative films, but wow. Nothing is the "Last Emperor" or "Apocalypse Now" - but some of the smaller, more personal works are stunning.


If you want to go full on, David Lean grandiose, anything Freddie Young shot . . . . . three of them are in the pantheon, starting with Lawrence of Arabia.


Now, for films best suited to choking down rat poison like Malort, I suggest a brace of John Waters' films - let's start with "Pink Flamingos" . . . . .
Babs Johnson: "Kill everyone now! Condone first degree murder! Advocate cannibalism! Eat shit! Filth are my politics, filth is my life!"


   






         






 

[JMEvensky]

Gib P--you are a man with splendid taste in movies. Barry Lyndon (like every film of SK) is mesmerizing to watch but you can't overlook the sound track (again, like every film of SK). I watched it for the 20th (?) time last week.


Maybe 40 years ago I watched MB--dressed in head/toe sable-- cross 57th heading south on 5th. She literally stopped traffic.


And thanks for the memory of a long dead fraternity brother whose all time favorite movie line was from PF--"who would dare send me a turd in the mail?".

[Gib_Papazian]

I have just purchased my SECOND bottle of high-tone Kummell.


It lives at the front of the booze cabinet for ease of pouring a healthy snifter.


If you've not tried it - fabulous. Perhaps an acquired taste for the uninitiated - the first sip is alien - but the 2nd,3rd and beyond is addictive.


I'll say Kummell is the Grateful Dead of liquors . . . . . . if you like it, you'll love it.






 

[Sam Andrews]

I am slightly curious about this thread. When abroad do you Americans not try different drinks or do you all drink Bud Light?


Kummel is just a Germanic version of loads of other aniseed-flavoured digestifs. Nothing special but very enjoyable after a good lunch!

[Mike Hendren]

So Gyro, where did you score the Kummel?


Sam, I like my Bud full-flavored.


Bogey

[Gib_Papazian]

Bogey,


Strictly as a digestif, I rate it 2nd after Ararat Brandy, since Kummel makes a weird combination after dinner with traditional Armenian coffee.


Oddly, unlike Dad, who lived on black licorice, I'm not generally a fan of anise based anything - but the palate has so many layers, you don't sip it so much as contemplate it.


Malort is like running the Dipsea footrace, something to be endured; did it once, glad I did, not doing it again.


And Sam Sam Sam . . . . . ,


Last time I had a beer with Paddy O'Connor - at the O-Club downstairs bar no less - I ordered my usual shot of Hornitos and pint of Harp Lager, while Paddy ordered a Bud Light.


Paddy is from the outskirts of Cork - a Journeyman Irish Electrician, imagine that? My dear friend and bartender (RIP) Louis Davis . . . . being a cheeky fucker . . . .  served up the beers switched.


Just for the record, Louis knew I consider Buttwiper to be toxic waste at best.