The Kolagräs Med God Grädde from Röda Huset in Stockholm features local cream, Absolut Elyx, Galliano, and Swedish green apples
The Kolagräs Med God Grädde is somewhat like a milk punch, and mostly made with ingredients from Sweden, except the Galliano. Evolving through co-owner and head bartender Hampus Thunholm’s stints at various bars and restaurants, its sweet and sour flavors make this cocktail both recognizable and hard to place.
General Manager Björn Kjellberg tells us…
Name the cocktail.
Kolagräs med god grädde (Sweet vernal grass with good creme) or simply Kolagräs for short.
What inspired the name? What’s this drink’s origin story?
All our cocktails are simply named the main ingredients/produce or flavor. Sometimes with an addition of a technique or serve like ‘almost frozen…’, ‘burnt…’ or ‘lukewarm…’
The origin of the drink is a bit vague to be honest. It has evolved through several different on-the-fly cocktails created in different bars tended. When we were to open Röda Huset we simply combined different flavor combos we liked and techniques we knew worked.
What other drinks belong in its family?
We really don’t work that much with traditional cocktail families in the sense of sours, highballs and so on. But if we were to place Kolagräs in some kind of family, I guess the closest would be a milk punch.
if you like ________ and ________ you should try this drink.
Sweet and sour cocktails with an unexpected flavor that you will recognize but can’t place you should try the Kolagräs.
What food is this cocktail best served with?
We don’t work with food pairing for our cocktails. Our wines do that job better than any cocktail could ever do. But since it is a delicious cocktail, it would work perfectly with a delicious plate of food or snack.
Ingredients
- Good cream from the island Gotland flavored with vernal grass
- Absolut Elyx
- Galliano
- Swedish green apples
Directions
Good cream from an artisan dairy farm on the island of Gotland are split with our proprietary Happī Sour Mix (made from Swedish Granny smith apples from Kattviks orchards) and forced through a piping bag.
Our in-house sweet vernal grass liqueur (Absolut Elyx, foraged sweet vernal grass and Galliano as sweetener) are then filtered through the lactose wall created in the piping bag. Using this technique, we get a clear cocktail with character of the cream and all the chlorophyll flavors.