Himkok x Movement Menu Danced by Norwegian National Ballet

Himkok x Movement, the new cocktail menu from Oslo’s Himkok, arrived the way this bar likes to do things, with a full-scale artistic production. The list of 13 signature cocktails was unveiled on Sunday, September 27, at Sentralen in Oslo with an original performance by dancers of the Norwegian National Ballet, each drink interpreted through its own choreographed piece. The menu has been pouring at the bar since Monday, September 28.

For Himkok, named the Best Bar in Norway and No. 4 on the inaugural Europe’s 50 Best Bars list, the launch continues a run of menus treated as creative projects rather than seasonal refreshes.

Thirteen Cocktails, Thirteen Dances

Each of the 13 cocktails was given its own original dance piece, choreographed by Anaïs Touret, dancer and choreographer at the Norwegian National Ballet. The concept was developed with Jens Carlos Schwartz, the Oslo-based creative director who first worked with Himkok on its 2023 Fashion Meets Mixology project and who assembled the creative team this time around. Composer Sebastian Schmiedl wrote 13 original scores and designed the lighting, Julianne Johnsen created the costumes, and Norwegian singer ARY performed on the night.

For Touret, the brief inverted her usual process. Instead of starting from a story or a score, she built each piece from a drink’s flavor, texture, and color. “Choreographing 13 original dance pieces inspired by cocktails was both exciting and challenging,” she says. “It pushed me creatively and allowed me to discover a completely new way of building movement and storytelling.”

Head of Research and Development Paul Aguilar sees the same logic behind the bar. “We are fascinated by how the composition of a ballet routine and the reaction and emotion it can create can be mirrored by the creation and experience of a cocktail,” he says.

Nordic Readings of the Classics

The drinks are Nordic interpretations of familiar classics, each named after its key ingredient. Beetroot reworks the Negroni with Himkok’s own gin, Martini Bitter and Rosso, fresh beetroot juice, coffee, and chocolate bitters, and was danced as a duet in matching red. Rhubarb is Himkok’s French 75, built on the house aquavit with timur berry cordial, rhubarb liqueur and cordial, Noilly Prat, and Champagne.

Coffee twists the Espresso Martini with Rémy Martin 1738 cognac, Tia Maria cold brew, Dutch cacao, cardamom, and PX sherry. Raspberry is a Ramos-style Gin Fizz lifted by a touch of Fernet-Branca, cream and egg white, and raspberry soda, while Plum takes the Amaretto Sour somewhere darker with Johnnie Walker Black Label, Disaronno, plum and blackberry, and red wine.

The Unexpected Serves

The more surprising builds start with Tomato, a light highball of clarified tomato water with Patrón Reposado, Carpano Bianco, white Penja pepper cordial, and soda, finished with a garnish of tomato skin. Strawberry is a spirit-forward mix of Teeling Irish whiskey and Carpano Classico softened by a yogurt milk wash, with strawberry liqueur and a note of maraschino.

Pear draws on Brazil’s limonada suíça, pairing Patrón Silver with pear and pandan liqueurs, timur berry cordial, condensed milk, and lime. Apricot builds a bamboo-style serve on Norwegian Shiro sake with Nikka Miyagikyo single malt, Noilly Prat, fino sherry, and elderflower syrup. Elderberry sits between aperitivo and nightcap, combining The Orientalist 12-year-old Dragon Whisky, lingonberry Shiro sake, Martini Rosato, and Skott Gård elderberry syrup with Lucano 0.0%.

Cherry pairs Bacardi 10 with a house Pepsi Max cordial, vanilla, and a caffeine, taurine, and vitamin mix, and Elderflower is a summer highball of Opland aquavit, gooseberry, elderflower cordial, lime and ginger soda, and rosewater. The finale belongs to Apple, an Old Fashioned built on Hardangerfjord apple juice, Buffalo Trace bourbon, Fireball, butter, and agave, performed on the night by the full ensemble.

Every cocktail on the menu is priced at 199 NOK.

The Timeless List Stays in Place

Alongside the new menu, Himkok keeps its roster of house classics. Beta combines Himkok vodka with Luxardo Aperitivo infused with horseradish, ginger, lemon, and carrot juice. Birch is built on Himkok Old Tom gin and Martini Bianco infused with birch leaves, garnished with an olive stuffed with Kraftkar cheese. The Nordic Manhattan brings together Himkok Linie aquavit, Carpano Classico, Gammel Dansk Brombær, and absinthe.

The timeless list has its own, older Pear built on vodka and caraway distillate with pear and ginger water kefir, Pine with gin, pine and rosemary cordial, and soda, a barrel-leaning Plum of Buffalo Trace, plum stone distillate, and oak chips, a Raspberry of aquavit, red wine, and rhubarb liqueur, and Smoky Beetroot, which pairs Himkok’s beetroot distillate with Koch mezcal espadín, fino sherry, and a reindeer lichen wine reduction.

A short snack menu runs alongside the drinks, from Castelvetrano olives, nuts, and chips to Iberico ham mini sausages and a caviar bump of Rossini Oscietra.

A Menu as a Creative Project

Himkok x Movement continues the bar’s habit of treating each menu launch as a collaboration with artists outside the drinks world, following the design-led list created with Studio Sløyd and the music-driven Sips & Beats. In the bar’s own words, the artists connected flavor, movement, sound, texture, and light, giving each cocktail its own identity and turning the menu into an experience that could be tasted, heard, and felt.

Inside Himkok

Himkok opened in 2015, founded by Erk Potur, and is led today by Paul Aguilar and Bar Manager Simone Santini. The multi-story venue at Storgata 27 houses its own distillery producing aquavit, gin, and vodka, a large terrace, an upstairs bar with cocktails on tap, and a barbershop on the top floor. It is open Monday to Wednesday from 17:00 to 00:00 and Thursday to Saturday from 17:00 to 03:00, closed on Sundays.

With Himkok x Movement, one of Europe’s most-watched bars makes its clearest statement yet that a cocktail list can be a stage as much as a menu.

Photos: Himkok

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