Around the World in 60 Cocktails: Gezellig

Amsterdam… home to historic canals, the Rijksmuseum and diverse neighborhoods brimming with personality. Achingly hip, perennially happening, the Dutch capital is always the right place to be.

While there is no denying that Amsterdam ticks all the travel boxes, the city is famous for being gezellig. Pronounced “heh-SELL-ick,” this word is a Dutch quality that translates roughly as ‘convivial’ or ‘cozy’. It’s more easily experienced than defined. There’s a sense of time stopping, an intimacy of the here-and-now that leaves your troubles behind, at least until tomorrow.

People of all ages while away many happy (gezellig) hours debating what is gezellig and what is not. A cafe, for example, is gezellig. A dentist’s waiting room is not — though it can be gezellig if your friends accompany you, particularly if they, in turn, are gezellig. An evening on the town with friends is gezellig, especially if you have dinner at a gezellig restaurant, see a good movie, and finish with a drink at a gezellig pub. Trying to entertain the inlaws-from-hell is definitely not gezellig.

While we’re not still 100% sure on the intricacies of what warrants being gezellig or not, we’re pretty sure our signature sour-style cocktail laced with intoxicating spices will make the grade. The addition of licorice Schnapps adds a Dutch twist, while Genever – a forerunner to London Dry Gin and can only be made in Holland fills our cocktail with national flavours! Now that’s gezellig!