Scandinavia finds itself in the midst of a bar revolution, with Himkok at its epicentre. After seven appearances in the list of The World’s 50 Best Bars, the Oslo drinkery cements its standing as a bastion of the sector in 2023, climbing 33 positions since the previous year to earn the Nikka Highest Climber Award. Below, the Himkok team reflects on this recognition and the region’s bar renaissance
When Himkok opened its doors in 2015, it was clear that something special was afoot in the Norwegian capital. Part-bar, part-distillery and part-lab, Erk Potur, the bar's singular founder and owner, brought a novel drinks-focused concept to Oslo, inviting locals to sample its singular cocktail experience centred around the produce, people and personality of the country they called home. In a city dominated by pubs and the associated beer-and-wine culture, Himkok wanted to get Norwegians to rethink everything they thought they knew about cocktails.
It was an immediate hit, debuting at No.42 on the list of The World’s 50 Best Bars 2016 just one year after opening. 2023 now marks the bar’s seventh appearance in the ranking and its greatest performance to date, with a 33-position leap since 2022 landing it at the No.10 spot – the biggest jump of any venue this year, earning Himkok the Nikka Highest Climber Award 2023.
“To be honest, we’re still processing that we made it into the top 10. We’re so humbled,” says Maroš Dzurus, Himkok’s bar manager. While there has been an undeniable buzz about Scandinavia’s burgeoning bar scene, with this year’s edition of The World’s 50 Best Bars featuring the greatest representation from the region ever recorded, for Dzurus and Aguilar the bar’s climb – while still a surprise – was the result of a long campaign built upon spotlighting the very best of Norwegian hospitality.
Platforming Norway
At the core of Himkok’s operation is a producer-led philosophy centred on uncovering and elevating Norwegian produce. Compared to the luscious larders enjoyed by bars in South America, Asia and the tropics, Norway’s geographical position that touches into the Arctic Circle and its resulting ecosystem place natural limitations on the breadth of locally available ingredients that would line most back bars. For Himkok, this was a challenge worth taking on.
The Parsnip is a creation from its latest cocktail menu, comprised of bourbon, parsnip maple syrup and bitters
This mission is plain to see for anyone stepping through the bar’s doors. Among the stylish, stained wood furniture one comes to expect of a Scandinavian interior, you’ll find vessels of aquavit at different stages of ageing. Behind the bar is a range of gins and vodkas, almost all from Norway or its neighbours, ready to be utilised in the lauded cocktails. Upstairs, the speakeasy vibe is traded for a more casual space, focused on Norway’s long history of beer and cider drinking, with a few cocktails served on tap.
Drinks here are inventive and unapologetically Norwegian. The Birch – a must-try – is the bar’s answer to a Martini, supercharged by syrup derived from the native tree. Its range of aquavits is ready to break down any and all misconceptions about the Nordic spirit, which has enough range to substitute gin, vodka, rum and even whiskey depending on its age and complexity, as explained by the astute team.
This devotion to spotlighting Scandinavia extends beyond the contents of Himkok’s glasses. “We want to represent Norwegian culture and Norwegian flavour, and the best way to represent the country’s culture is by supporting the community around us,” says Dzurus.
To achieve this, the bar has embarked on a yearly campaign of collaborations with different sectors of art and culture. This year, it chose a new medium: fashion. Cultural cross-pollination has become more common among bars, but Himkok flipped the script. Instead of creating bespoke drinks to match existing pieces, the bar’s cocktails served as the inspiration from which new creations were made.
View this post on Instagram
“Fashion and furniture are very powerful in Scandinavia. So this year we partnered up with designer Eline Dragesund,” says Aguilar, Himkok’s head of R&D. “We showed her the menu, and then she completely transformed the drinks and flavours into 13 unique pieces of fashion, which we showed off at a full fashion show.”
“We’re trying to push boundaries,” adds Dzurus. “In our industry, we have the chance to be creative in the cocktails we make and their concept and story. We thought: ‘why should we focus on drinks like the Negroni, which have already been created many times?’.” By taking Himkok to the runway and beyond, the bar aims to land a new audience of visitors and expand its offering into something greater than an outpost for great drinks.
The mother of invention
When 50 Best introduced the Sustainable Bar Award in 2018, Himkok emerged as the inaugural winner, fulfilling the judging criteria with flying colours. Sustainability has remained a key pillar, but these days attention to these practices has less to do with the individual philosophy of the bar and more with the Norwegian law for hospitality businesses, explains Dzurus.
“In Norway, you have to separate glassware; you have to source power from hydroelectricity and you have to be 90-95% efficient with how you recycle trash,” he says. “This isn’t something we invented.”
Himkok's on-site distillery helps the bar create its bespoke offering
This certainly aligns with this year’s winner of the Ketel One Sustainable Bar Award, Röda Huset in Stockholm, just one hour’s flight from Himkok. The Swedish bar was bestowed the honour for its equally impressive ecological agenda centred around local sourcing and waste reduction. Sweden shares a similarly stringent regulation on green practices, and both venues are arguably emblematic of the wider shift in bars across Scandinavia.
While some laws have positively shaped the trajectory and direction of Himkok and other bars in the region, Norwegian regulations also bring about a critical complication: promotion. Since 1975, Norway has held a blanket prohibition on the advertisement of alcohol. “You cannot even take a picture of the glass because it is seen as promotion of alcohol drinking,” says Dzurus. This, too, extends into social media, a necessity for almost all modern bars looking to build their international profile and recognition.
Himkok’s rise through the ranks becomes even more impressive upon realising that it was achieved almost entirely by word of mouth. “Bars have so many barriers here, meaning that the ones that stand out are those which are pushing them: using creativity to shine through the constraints,” Dzurus says. “For us to achieve what we did in such a dark market as Norway, we are very thankful.”
Future vision
The impact of Himkok on the region’s craft cocktail scene is already manifest. Where Norway and Scandinavia’s bar industry was still in its infancy when the bar first opened, today it has become an international hotbed of mixology, thanks in part to Himkok’s pioneering presence.
From right: Himkok bartender Piersandro Marchisio and Himkok's founder, Erk Potur, and head of R&D Paul Aguilar collected their accolade on stage in Singapore
Dzurus and Aguilar have no doubts about the bar’s future direction: Himkok isn’t going to rest on its laurels. Every element of the bar that has already earned swathes of accolades and achievements is only set to improve, alongside a wide range of projects in the pipeline that will further elevate its offerings. “Our bar has been on the list for the past seven years now, and there’s still a lot of great bars on that list. If anything, competition is getting better and better,” says Dzurus.
Its dedication to sustainability – in terms of environmental practices, financial longevity and the people working behind the bar – remains a core focus going forward. The artistic collaborations and projects are set to continue, with plans already in place to explore new cultural disciplines intertwined with cocktails to further expand its reach and empire.
Indeed, the revolution has already started: the bar’s range of ready-to-drink canned cocktails is stocked in around 500 stores across Norway and is set to expand following its partnership with Aass Brewery, one of the country’s oldest and largest distilleries, with the potential to export its wares internationally in the future.
Prefer your drinks undiluted? Development is ongoing in the north of the country to build a state-of-the-art whiskey distillery that will put Norwegian single malts on the map – and back bars – of drinks aficionados around the globe. After Himkok closes, Oslo will soon have a new nightclub to dance the night away – with a great cocktail in hand, of course.
As the world starts to wake up to the wonders of the Scandinavian bar scene, the ascension of numerous establishments into the limelight – Himkok, Röda Huset, Svanen, Ruby and countless others – may seem sudden. In reality, they are bearing the fruit of a long, quiet revolution, with Himkok flying the colours from the frontline.
Miss this year’s ceremony? Watch the highlights below:
The 15th edition of The World’s 50 Best Bars, sponsored by Perrier, was announced on Tuesday, 17th October 2023 in Singapore. To stay up to date with the latest news and announcements, browse the website, follow us on Instagram, find us on Facebook, visit us on X and subscribe to our YouTube channel.
