Jeppson’s Malört Has Developed a Cultlike Following of Portland Adherents Who Convene Weekly

Depending on whom you ask, Jeppson’s Malört tastes like gasoline, day-old Coke filtered through a used ashtray, the inner rind of a particularly bitter unripe grapefruit peel, or any combination of the above. Those with a particularly refined palate and a large degree of charity may also identify notes of camphor, wormwood or licorice. In its native habitat—dinky dive bars with décor that hasn’t been updated or cleaned since the 1930s, when the liquor was introduced by the Chicago company—Malört has historically been used as a prank shot to welcome out-of-towners to the Windy City or given out for free by the bartender to quieten weepy, financially challenged barflies hovering between the bar, bathroom and back door.

In the Rose City, this acrid alcohol has developed a cultlike following of adherents who convene weekly to share a shot or two or three at a rotating list of watering holes, known as Malört Mostly Mondays. Forgoing the traditional fight-your-dad vibe that most Malört-fueled gatherings devolve into, the most recent convening saw a brainstorming session about potential alcohol pairings and discussions about everything from the lipophilic nature of the bioactive ingredients in wormwood to culinary contexts in which Malört could be enjoyed—all of which took place in the comfort of a lush back patio at a former strip club in St. Johns.

Malört Mostly Mondays is scheduled to take place 7 to 8:30 pm(ish) weekly (usually on Mondays, but not always) through October. The next meetup is July 28 at Pinky’s Pizza, where you can come see if you’re one of the seven out of every thousand people who actually like Malört.

See the rest of Willamette Week’s Best of Portland 2023 here!