I BAREN är ett koncept här på min blogg där jag samlat några av Sveriges absolut bästa bartenders. Emil Åreng från Rex Bar & Grill i Umeå är en av dem och med tunga tävlingsmeriter i bagaget. Efter att bara ha publicerat ett inlägg så visar det sig att Emil finns omnämd på World Class 50 – The definitive drinking guide 2013. En guide över världens bästa bartenders som kommer ut en gång per år.

– Anledningen till att jag är ensam svensk på listan är för att jag vann mot 60 av de vassaste i Sverige och representerar Sverige på denna lista. Det är såklart en stor ära att få representera Sverige, men framförallt Norrland och Umeå. Vi vet ju att Stockholm och Göteborg kan leverera, men nu är det fanimej Norrlands tur och detta är ett steg på vägen säger Emil Åreng.

TEXT FRÅN “WORLD CLASS 50 – THE DEFINITIVE DRINKING GUIDE 2013”:

Emil Seth Åreng represented Sweden at the World Class Bartender of the Year final, 2013

Rex Bar & Grill has been a focal point of the Northern Swedish city of Umeå since 1996, though the building it occupies, the old town hall, has been pivotal even longer. It occupies one side of Umeå’s main square and houses a dance floor in the former courtroom upstairs, while a pop-up bar, Den Blinda Grisen or The Blind Pig, hogs (sorry) the basement. The central chamber in between houses the main restaurant and bar. It serves international/French brasserie food with a wholesome tranche of Northern Sweden added, with the drinks taking a similar approach of classic cocktails tempered by terroir.

The Bartender

Emil Seth Åreng, 27, has been the bar manager at Rex for three years. By the age of ten he’d narrowed his future career choice to either barman or soldier – and he has no regrets with the path he chose. ‘We work with flavours that we have around the corner, because we live pretty close to nature,’ explains Emil, ‘so with the herbs, fruits and berries we do classic cocktails with a twist of Northern Sweden.’ This could be cloudberries, Arctic raspberries or a syrup made from birch or spruce: ‘it’s like the taste of the forest.’ Having worked in the industry for eight years Emil is inspired by the bartending team at Swedish stalwart, Little Quarter, as well as gurus Ueno Hidetsugu, Angus Winchester, Erik Lorincz and Max La Rocca.

The Drink

The Steamboat Alma is a cocktail based on Emil’s original Bismark recipe, the latter named after a popular apple type in the region. The steamboat conjures up images of the saltwater loch that the Talisker single malt distillery overlooks (the only one on the Isle of Skye), the deep & rugged terrain indicative of the aromas of peat-smoke & sea saltiness found in this full-bodied single malt.

The drink also features a syrup made from angelica, produced especially for Rex by a lady in the mountains who is an evangelist to the herb’s properties. The dedication to terroir even encompasses the ice, which is brought in blocks from the Ice Hotel in Jukkasjärvi and shaped by hand on site.

The Technique

Talisker 10 • 50ml
Brånnland Iscider • 40ml
Angelica syrup • 15ml
Bob’s Abbotts bitters • 2 dashes
Contains 23 grams of alcohol per serve

Stir all the ingredients with hand cut ice. Pour into a chilled Martini glass.

The Steamboat Alma is best enjoyed pre-dinner, or perhaps after with cheese. Don’t miss the Blind Pig in the basement, which Emil decorated to look ‘as a speakeasy might have looked in Northern Sweden in the 1930s – if we’d had one.’

It’s a lively venue, which demonstrates how you can get things right, while retaining a lot of charm. The drinks utilize unique regional produce that you’ll struggle to find fresh elsewhere.

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Instagram: @emilseth