Chicago Handshake — A shot of Malört with an Old Style alongside, Chicago's own boilermaker

Chicago Handshake

A shot of Malört with an Old Style alongside, Chicago's own boilermaker

Number of people

Ingredients

  • 12 ozOld Style Lager
    Cold, from the can
    Substitute: Any inexpensive American lager
  • 2 ozJeppson's Malört
    Poured neat into a shot glass, room temperature
    Substitute: None that keeps the name — the drink is the two brands

Instructions

  1. Pour 2 oz Malört into a shot glass at room temperature

    Chilling it mutes the bitterness, which defeats the exercise

  2. Open a cold can of Old Style and set it beside the shot

    The beer wants to be genuinely cold

  3. Take the shot, then the beer, without a pause between them

Technique Notes

Keep the beer cold and keep it close. Malört's bitterness builds over about thirty seconds rather than fading, so the chaser is doing structural work rather than being optional.

Why the Chicago Handshake Works

The beer is not a mercy, it is the other half of the structure. Malört is wormwood-forward and its bitterness climbs rather than fades, so a thin, cold lager resets the palate in a way water cannot. Old Style is specified because the drink is a two-brand piece of Chicago shorthand, not because a better beer would not taste better.