Himkok RTD, Olssøn Barbieri

Himkok RTD

Himkok is a longtime clients and one of the top 50 best cocktail bars in the world, with a passion for experimenting with ingredients and techniques to create new flavours. During the pandemic, when all bars and restaurants were forced to close, it became imperative for Himkok to enter retail with their own products. We were excited when they asked us to develop their first low-ABV cocktails on cans.

Year

2022

Deliverables

Design strategy, Packaging, Art Direction

Industries

Beverage

Materials

Aluminium

Techniques

Flexo print

Client

Himkok

Collaborators

Esra Røise (Norway), Illustration

Lars Petter Pettersen, Photographer

Awards

2023, ADC Shortlisted

Starting from the identity and packaging that we developed for their spirits, we created the platform for their ready to drink products in aluminium cans. The first two products are Oslo Mule and Oslo Paloma, made with Himkok´s legendary unaged Aquavit and with 4,7% ABV (max alcoholic strength allowed in Norway to be sold in retail).

Himkok Aquavit Blank

Himkok is located in the heart of Oslo, it’s also the capital’s only bar distillery, producing all its spirits in-house with a zero-waste philosophy. They produce more than 80% of the spirit they serve at the bar and specialize in cocktails that are inspired by Norwegian ingredients and culture.

Blank Aquavit contains carefully sourced caraway, and different roots to create depth and complexity, plus green and earthy spices such as coriander, fennel, and grains of paradise. Topped with citrus aromas from dried orange peel, and fresh lemon peel and slowly distilled in a copper pot still, creating a balanced and pleasant Aquavit.

Himkok is Norwegian for ‘moonshine’ and is a generic term for small-scale distilled alcoholic beverages made from endemic ingredients reflecting the customs, tastes, and raw materials available in each region.

“Something local” is also a Norwegian indie-slang for moonshine, signifying another aspect of Himkok, and speaking directly to the fact that the products are distilled with local botanicals. To develop the recipe and to fill the cans they collaborated with the local brewery Aass, 30 minutes drive from Oslo.

Something Local

Norwegian moonshine is called “hjemmebrent” or “heimebrent” (which translates as “home-burnt”), sometimes also “heimkok”/“himkok” (meaning “home-cooked”) or “heimert”/“himert” (slang), “blank vara” (meaning “clear stuff”) and the mash is called “sats”. In rural parts of eastern Norway, it is also referred to as “ni-seks”(meaning “nine-six”, referring to the alcohol content, 96% ABV) as a common moonshine variant is rectified spirits from potatoes.
In the old days on Finnskogen, they called the mash Skogens vin (“Wine of the forest”). When talking to foreigners, some Norwegians use the term “something local” about their moonshine.

1. Police officers with confiscated moonshine distillery equipment, 1926
2. Hjemmebrænding og Snapseurter, 1972
3. Postcard from Vaterland, Christiania ca 1900
4. Police officer with moonshine distillery equipment, Norway 1914

The cans are screened with a matte white color, leaving the metallic can to shine through in selected spots to give luster to the snake (the only Norwegian venomous viper) and selected typography, reducing the color palette to the minimum retaining the apothecary clues from the bar while delivering on freshness and attitude.

On the front the hierarchy prioritise the sender, to capitalise on their credibility, and the name of each cocktail followed by the main ingredients. The color coding is achieved with a metallic Pms that catch the light and create a subtle navigation between the different flavours. The identity system provides flexibility to introduce new products with a strong affiliation to the mother brand.