Nature Embodied

Nature embodied

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

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

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 cocktail-

“SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IS INTEGRAL TO OUR IDENTITY”

loving speakeasy, one-part sustainability pioneer.

The HIMKOK team have taken an all-encompassing approach to living

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“We’ve grown up surrounded by

and working sustainably, from where

majestic fjords, rugged mountains,

and how they source their ingredi-

and breathtaking natural beauty.

ents (and what happens to leftovers),

It instils in you a profound apprecia-

and using their own hydro-energy

tion for nature and a desire to protect

powered distillery that delivers

it,” says Voza. “It’s why we have such

against sustainable goals for waste,

a strong and deep-rooted commit-

food miles, and emissions. Local

ment to positive action in sustainable

sourcing is a key principle, even

development at HIMKOK. It’s inte-

in a nation with a growing season

gral to our identity.”

that can last as little as a month.

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C I T I Z E N Z E R O ——— I S S U E T W O

“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

“WE SOURCE OUR INGREDIENTS LOCALLY AND ETHICALLY”

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.

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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 113

C I T I Z E N Z E R O ——— I S S U E T W O

“OUR DISTILLERY IS THE BEATING HEART OF OUR SUSTAINABILITY INITIATIVES”

programmes for glass bottles and pack-

“It’s also about education and aware-

aging materials, and are looking at

ness, which we do through workshops

alternatives to single-use plastics.”

and promoting our ethos with our customers, and collaborating with the

Beneath HIMKOK’s cool-as-you-like

local community and organisations

facade, there’s a sense of experimen-

dedicated to sustainability,” says Voza.

tation and creativity that’s put it at

“We work hard to balance tradition

the top of many ‘most sustainable bar’

and innovation, and we’re committed

lists. Voza concedes that sustainabil-

to making constant improvements.

ity is a journey that requires constant

Of course we want to create exceptional

improvement, including things like a

cocktails, but embodying Norwegian

focus on water conservation, invest-

culture is about living up to our rich

ment in energy efficient appliances

heritage of balancing human need with

and lighting to reduce consumption,

the health of the environment.”

and consistent monitoring and reporting of key sustainability metrics.

himkok.no

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