Nature Embodied

Nature embodied

Foraging, local sourcing, and a hydropowered distillery. Welcome to Himkok’s sustainable take on a 1930s speakeasy. As they say in Oslo, skål!

Norwegians call it friluftsliv. It is, to them and their ancestors, a philosophy that sums up the innate value and deep sense of meaning they get from spending time with nature for spiritual and physical wellbeing. Friluftsliv isn’t connected to a specific activity – although being the most sparsely populated nation in Europe means there’s plenty of options. Rather, it’s about being a part of the wild without disturbing it, whether it’s hiking, cross-country skiing, lunchtime runs in the forest or, in the case of Paul Voza and his white-lab-coat-wearing colleagues, using natural ingredients to make some of the best cocktails in the business.

HIMKOK, where Voza and his fellow mixologists create cocktails and spirits distilled in-house, embodies this sentiment. Drinks like aquavit, gin, vodka, and a menu full of cocktails, beers and ciders, are crafted to reflect Norway’s love of the natural landscape and to foster a shared sense of responsibility and stewardship for the resources on peoples’ doorsteps.

A strong, a strong ethos of caring for the planet hides behind HIMKOK’s unassuming grey exterior. Here, practices like local sourcing, using renewable energy, minimising waste and recycling, creative preservation techniques, and even hosting sustainability workshops and events, have seen the bar win the Ketel One Sustainable Bar Award – given to the venue that achieves the highest environmental and social responsibility rating across three core pillars: sourcing, society, and environment. Think of the place – to use mixologist parlance – as one-part cocktailloving speakeasy, one-part sustainability pioneer.

“We’ve grown up surrounded by majestic fjords, rugged mountains, and breathtaking natural beauty. It instils in you a profound appreciation for nature and a desire to protect it,” says Voza. “It’s why we have such a strong and deep-rooted commitment to positive action in sustainable development at HIMKOK. It’s integral to our identity.”

“S u S tai N ab L e de V e L o P me N t i S i N te G ra L to our ide N tit Y”

The HIMKOK team have taken an all-encompassing approach to living and working sustainably, from where and how they source their ingredients (and what happens to leftovers), and using their own hydro-energy powered distillery that delivers against sustainable goals for waste, food miles, and emissions. Local sourcing is a key principle, even in a nation with a growing season that can last as little as a month.

“W e S our C e our i NG redie N t S L o C a LLY a N d et H i C a LLY”

“We take advantage of the rich resources around us by foraging for wild ingredients like berries, herbs, and mushrooms. It’s not only good for bringing unique flavours to our drinks, but also lets us highlight the importance of preserving local ecosystems,” Voza explains.

“We also prioritise sourcing our ingredients locally and ethically. Collaborating with local farmers and producers gets us the freshest products, but also supports local communities and businesses and reduces the carbon footprint associated with transporting ingredients over longer distances. To extend the life of these ingredients, and reduce waste during off seasons, we use preservation techniques like canning, pickling and fermentation.”

Once local ingredients and botanicals have arrived at HIMKOK, little gets discarded. The bar takes a zero-waste approach, using citrus peels for garnishes, and fruit pulp byproducts for making syrups used in cocktails. The team also explores alternative grains, innovative new fermentation techniques, and has found a way to distil out-of-date beer to create whiskey. Other more traditional ingredients have been replaced in the quest for more environmentally friendly products – aquafaba (chickpea water) instead of egg whites, for example, because it doesn’t have an expiration date and removes extra byproducts like egg yolks.

The centrepiece of HIMKOK’s main bar area is its own distillery, a sculpturelike installation of copper pipes and pots in which 80% of the spirits sold are made (an otherwise substantial amount of alcohol that would be transported to Oslo from around the world).

“It’s the beating heart of our sustainability initiatives,” Voza says. “It empowers us to decrease our carbon footprint through local production and renewable hydro-energy, maintain quality control to reduce production errors and minimise waste, and to explore ways to constantly innovate and improve. We also have recycling

“ our di S ti LL er Y i S t H e beati NG H eart o F our S u S tai N abi L it Y i N itiati V e S”

programmes for glass bottles and packaging materials, and are looking at alternatives to single-use plastics.”

Beneath HIMKOK’s cool-as-you-like facade, there’s a sense of experimentation and creativity that’s put it at the top of many ‘most sustainable bar’ lists. Voza concedes that sustainability is a journey that requires constant improvement, including things like a focus on water conservation, investment in energy efficient appliances and lighting to reduce consumption, and consistent monitoring and reporting of key sustainability metrics.

“It’s also about education and awareness, which we do through workshops and promoting our ethos with our customers, and collaborating with the local community and organisations dedicated to sustainability,” says Voza. “We work hard to balance tradition and innovation, and we’re committed to making constant improvements. Of course we want to create exceptional cocktails, but embodying Norwegian culture is about living up to our rich heritage of balancing human need with the health of the environment.”

himkok.no