Cocktail menu – A tribute to Swedish Nature

"Aurora Borealis"
Ingredients: Hernö gin, buzz buttons, blueberries, fennel.

This cocktail is a tribute to the magic of the northern lights and crisp winter evenings. Hernö Gin from Dala near Härnösand, a place often illuminated by the Northern Lights, forms the base with its crisp purity. Buzz buttons, a flowering herb that gives a mild numbing sensation on the tongue, provide the chilling effect. Fennel seeds and blueberries add further freshness and flavour. The ice cube, created in collaboration with Isbudet in Gothenburg, symbolises the northern lights in this outstanding drink.

"Apple Orchard"
Ingredients: OP Anderson aquavit, calvados aged in aquavit casks, apple peel liqueur, more apples.

This cocktail recreates the feeling of an apple orchard - the smell, the beauty and the atmosphere. OP Andersson, a classic aquavit from Sundsvall, is complemented by calvados aged in OP Andersson casks. Together with an apple liqueur and clarified apple juice, a refreshing apple bonanza is created.

"Dalecarlia"
Ingredients: Woodford reserve rye, smoked aquavit, raspberry leaves, raspberries.

This cocktail is a tribute to Dalarna. A rye-based whiskey adds a bready touch, inspired by the tradition of bread baking. The smoked Grand Aquavit celebrates Midsummer and the subtle smokiness also symbolises the kolmila tradition. Wild raspberry leaves are used to create a tea-like soda.

"Snowy Mountains"
Ingredients: Eminent rum, cloudberry wine, moss.

The mountains are a favourite for many of us, and this drink captures the mountain feeling perfectly. To Eminente rum, aged for seven years in oak barrels, Grand Hôtel's own cloudberry wine is added and fermented for two weeks. The flavour is extended with a cordial created with window lichen (moss) that is sous vide matured for two hours. The result is a complex and long-lasting flavour experience. The drink is served in a frozen glass from a bottle with the same label as the artwork on the menu.

"7 Flowers"
Ingredients: Naked Malt, 7 flowers.

Midsummer's Eve, a magical night where the line between worlds is blurred. An ancient tradition encourages us to pick seven types of flowers and place them under our pillow to dream of future love. The Grand Hôtel's cocktail is based on Naked Malt, a Scottish blended malt whisky. Chamomile gives it a gentle pineapple note, while marigold, lavender and cornflower provide sweetness in the form of cordial. Bitterness comes from yarrow, which provides a complex, spicy flavour. The last two flowers decorate the glass, the icing on the cake.

"Archipelago"
Ingredients: Martini Rubino, aquavit, lacto-fermented blackberries, roasted dandelion roots, fresh mountain cow milk.

Archipelago simply means archipelago and in this case mainly the Stockholm archipelago. Imagine the glorious summer, the sun high in the sky and a warm breeze. Blackberries along the waterfront, grazing cows and dandelions along small roads and gardens. All this while enjoying your cup of coffee.

Martini Rubino is a vermouth, a spiced fortified wine. The blackberries undergo a lacto-fermentation process where salt and sugar are added under vacuum, extracting flavour from the berries. Roasted dandelion roots provide a coffee-like flavour, which is the secret ingredient in this drink.

"West Coast"
Ingredients: Belvedere vodka, IPA sorbet, punch, gooseberries.

What embodies the West Coast more than ice cream and berries? In this cocktail, the two merge into a beer sorbet. The starting point is a Sgroppino, an Italian classic containing sorbet and bubbles. The West Coast sorbet is beer-based, and instead of bubbles, a carbonated mixture of vodka and gooseberries is poured over it. Served by spoon, guests are given the choice of eating the ice cream while drinking or mixing it to melt and unite it with the drink. The gooseberries are infused in water and sugar for two days separately to extract maximum flavour.

"Elixir"
Ingredients: Ocho blanco tequila, rhubarb, horseradish, wormwood.

A common denominator among all these ingredients is their history as medicinal plants. Rhubarb has long been used to treat constipation, horseradish has been used to relieve headaches, and wormwood has been a traditional treatment for stomach problems. Even agave, the basis of tequila, has had a role as a medicinal plant in some parts of the world.

'Deep into the woods'
Ingredients: Flor de Caña 18, porcini mushroom, elderberry, lingonberry acid.

Inspired by deep woods in the colours of autumn, this drink is a tribute to the mystery of nature. The St John's Wort mushroom provides the main note, accompanied by elderberry which grows all over the country. The lingonberries provide the perfect acidity while the almonds soften the character of the elderberry. The rum, an 18-year-old Flor de Caña, is enriched with dried cauliflower mushrooms to create a unique flavour profile. Served stirred with ice in hand-blown glasses from the Åre glassworks.

"Rauk"
Ingredients: Bacardi Ocho, Boge Bränneri Akka, Cocchi americano, blackberry, thyme, ramson, minerals.

The "Rauk" cocktail celebrates Gotland's natural treasures and the stone sculptures along the coast. Inspired by Gotland's rich limestone and lush nature, it creates unique flavours. Cooling huckleberries and delicate ramson, together with Bacardi Ocho, form the basis. Boge Bränneris Akka, seasoned with local flavours, and a splash of Cocchi americano add flavourful complexity. Served in specially designed Gotland glasses - rolled against rauks to mimic the natural phenomenon - it gives an authentic sense of Gotland's limestone beaches and sunsets over the sea.

"Conifers Guardian"
Ingredients: Hennessy VS, pear, hazelnuts, smoked birch.

"Conifers Guardian" is a tribute to a sunny glade where the coniferous forest opens up, and nature shows its splendour. A place that suggests old farms, where deer and other creatures thrive in the heat of the sun, with an abundant food supply.

Where the conifers once stood, deciduous trees such as birch have now taken over, giving the glade its magical light. To restore the coniferous forest, the deciduous trees must first thrive. The pears are placed in a flavoured syrup and left to ripen for a few weeks. They are then blended into a sweet syrup that is used in the drink. The rest of the pears are left to soak in a mixture of acids, which adds both sweetness and acidity to the flavour. Cognac is infused with smoky birch and hazelnuts to give a long, savoury aftertaste to this otherwise fruity drink.

"Venice of the North"
Ingredients: Hendricks gin, plum cordial, Spriteriet sloe berry liqueur, ratafia de champagne, Champagne.

Stockholm is sometimes nicknamed the "Venice of the North", as the city is spread across islands and surrounded by sea. So the Grand Hôtel has created an elegant variation on a Bellini. Swedish plums are combined with a sloe berry liqueur made from sloe berries from Stockholm. This mixture is enriched with Hendrick's gin and Ratafia de Champagne. Then it is topped with Ruinart. Ratafia de Champagne is a dessert wine made by using distillates from the remains of champagne production as a base, and then diluted with grape must for a sweet finish.

Non-alcoholic options

"Starling"
Ingredients: roasted pumpkin seeds, cherries, non-alcoholic bubbly.

When starlings come flying in from the north, they make a pit stop in Skåne to fill their stomachs before crossing the Jutland reed belt. They spare no garden along the way, but cherries are their favourite. After eating their fill, they continue their journey south to Europe, except for a handful of starlings that stay in Sweden for the winter. When the trees are depleted of fruit, they are forced to change their diet and turn their attention to the bird feeder full of pumpkin seeds.

"Orangerie"
Ingredients: Martini Vibrante, celery, plums, non-alcoholic red wine, fir cone soda.

An orangery, a traditional heated greenhouse at mansions and castles, has long served as a sanctuary for plants that can't stand our cold winters. This is why we have chosen ingredients such as orange, cinnamon and cloves as well as plums to create a non-alcoholic mulled wine with a non-alcoholic fortified wine such as Martini Vibrante, flavoured with celery grown on Lidingö. A fir cone soda then tops off this appetiser. Perfect before the meal.

"Garden Punch"
Ingredients: Oddbird 2097, rosé wine, red currants.

A classic summer cottage drink. Here, generously growing currant bushes from Swedish crofts are used as a base for the juice. This is combined with Oddbird 2097, a non-alcoholic distillate with Nordic elements such as cloudberry, birch, and a pinch of heat from capsicum (chilli). Oddbird 2097 and rose bubbles are oxidised together for 48 hours to create a round and enjoyable base for this non-alcoholic cocktail.