Chicago's Malört World Record Bid at Recess Sells Out Fast for a Good Cause

Chicago is gearing up to attempt a world record for the most people simultaneously taking a shot of Malört, and organizers say tickets for the event went fast. Jeppson's Malört plans to attempt the record on Sunday at Recess, the West Town bar known for its sprawling shipping-container patio, with the record-breaking shot set to happen at approximately 7:30 p.m. Even after 500 additional tickets were released to the public, they sold out nearly immediately.

The event, first reported by NBC 5 Chicago, will raise funds for Ravenswood Community Services, according to organizers. General admission tickets were priced at $10, and CH Distillery — which owns the Malört brand — pledged to match $10 per ticket sold, effectively doubling every dollar that flows to the nonprofit, according to Time Out. CH Distillery CEO Tremaine Atkinson framed the stunt bluntly: “We're going to attempt something patently ridiculous and do some serious good for Chicago in the process,” he said, per the same outlet's coverage of the announcement.

What Ticket Holders Can Expect

Every attendee will receive a mini-bottle of Malört as part of the festivities, the report notes. The event also includes live entertainment, malört-themed cocktails and food items, prize giveaways, and special celebrity appearances. For anyone who missed the sellout, a free livestream of the attempt begins at 5 p.m., with the coordinated shot happening at 7:30 p.m. on the dot.

A roster of bars from around the Chicago area will participate alongside the host venue, including Cobra in Chicago, Cary's Lounge, Clementine's Pub in Bolingbrook, Sandbar Bar and Grille in Antioch, and The Town Bar & Grille in Aurora. Malört itself is a liqueur known for its extremely bitter taste — a reputation that has followed the spirit for generations and only adds to the spectacle of watching a crowd down it in unison.

A Spirit Rooted in Chicago's Prohibition-Era History

The drink's backstory helps explain why so many locals treat the shot as a rite of passage rather than a punishment. Malört was created in the 1920s by Swedish immigrant Carl Jeppson, who marketed it door-to-door in Chicago as a “medicinal tonic” to legally skirt Prohibition-era alcohol restrictions, according to Mental Floss. It's a Swedish-style bäsk liqueur flavored with wormwood, the same bitter botanical found in absinthe, though commercial Malört contains only negligible trace levels of thujone, the compound once linked to absinthe's alleged mind-altering effects, per Wikipedia.

After its original Chicago producer closed in the mid-1970s, the brand was contract-distilled in Florida for more than three decades before Pilsen-based CH Distillery bought the Carl Jeppson Company in September 2018, bringing production back to Chicago the following year, according to BevNET. That homecoming coincided with a surge in popularity: annual regional sales of Malört shots climbed from 400,000 in 2007 to 7.9 million in 2022, according to Wikipedia.

From Dive Bar Dare to Civic Symbol

Much of that growth traces back to Chicago's own drinking culture. Taking a shot of Malört followed by an Old Style chaser is known locally as a “Chicago Handshake,” a pairing that started as a neighborhood dive bar special before spreading citywide, per Transit Tees. The spirit has even found its way into state politics: in August 2024, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker endorsed Malört as the DNC's shot, calling it a local rite of passage meant to test a visitor's resolve.

Where the Money Goes

Ravenswood Community Services, the beneficiary of Sunday's event, serves the Uptown and Ravenswood neighborhoods, providing meals and groceries to people in need. The nonprofit began in 1993 as an outreach effort of All Saints' Episcopal Church before incorporating as its own 501(c)(3) in 2001, and it now runs weekly food pantry and hot meal distributions at 4550 N. Hermitage Ave. without income or residency restrictions, according to the organization's own materials. With every ticket sale matched dollar for dollar, organizers say Sunday's attempt is designed to turn a citywide dare into a direct boost for that work.