Editing Akvavit (section)

==Origin and traditional variants==
{{rquote|right|Dear lord, will your grace know that I send your grace some water with messenger Jon Teiste which is called Aqua vite and the same water helps for all his illness that a man can have internally.|Lord of Bergenshus castle, Eske Bille}}
The earliest known reference to "aquavit" is found in a 1531 letter from the Lord of [[Bergenshus]] castle, (Norway) Eske Bille, to [[Olav Engelbrektsson]], the last Roman Catholic [[Archbishop]] of Norway. The letter, dated April 13 and accompanying a package, offers the archbishop "some water which is called Aqua Vite and is a help for all sort of illness which a man can have both internally and externally".<ref>A transcription of the original letter can be found here: [http://www.dokpro.uio.no/perl/middelalder/diplom_vise_tekst.prl?b=10287&s=n&str=bille Diplomatarium Norvegicum – XI p. 630, Date: 13 April 1531. Place: Bergenhus.]
<br />"[...] Kiere herre werdis ether nade wiide att ieg szende ether nade nogit watn mett Jonn Teiste som kallis ''Aqua vite'' och hielper szamme watn for alle hande kranchdom som ith menniske kandt haffue indwortis. [...]"
<br />("[...] Dear lord, will your grace know that I send your grace some water with Jon Teiste which is called ''Aqua vite'' and helps the same water for all his illness that a man can have internally and externally. [...]")</ref>

While this claim for the medicinal properties of the drink may be rather inflated, aquavit is popularly believed to ease the digestion of rich foods.  In Norway, it is drunk at celebrations, particularly [[Christmas]], Easter, or May 17 ([[Norwegian Constitution Day]]). In Denmark, it is traditionally associated with [[Christmas lunch|Christmas]] and [[Easter|Easter lunches]]. In Sweden, it is a staple of the traditional midsummer celebrations dinner, usually drunk while singing one of many drinking songs. It is usually drunk as [[snaps]] during meals, especially during the [[Hors d'oeuvre|appetizer]] course — along with pickled [[herring]], [[crayfish]], [[lutefisk]], or [[Smoking (food)|smoked]] fish. In this regard, it is popularly quipped that aquavit helps the fish swim down to the stomach.

[[File:Aquavit linie.jpg|thumb| Norwegian Lysholm Linie Aquavit.]]
It is also a regular in traditional Norwegian Christmas meals, including roasted rib of pork and rib of lamb (''[[pinnekjøtt]]''). The spices and the alcohol are said to help [[Digestif|digest]] the meal, which is very rich in fat.

Among the most important brands are Løiten, [[Lysholm]], Opland, and Simers from [[Norway]]; [[Danish Distillers|Aalborg]] and Brøndum from [[Denmark]]; and [[O.P. Anderson]] from [[Sweden]]. While the Danish and Swedish variants are normally very light in colour, most of the Norwegian brands are matured in oak casks for at least six months, and for some brands even as long as 12 years, making them generally darker in colour. While members of all three nations can be found to claim that "their" style of aquavit is the best as a matter of national pride, Swedish ''akvavit'' is typically the most renowned around the world, specifically so in the culinary scene. Whilst the Norwegian ''akevitt'' tends to have if not the most distinctive character, then at least the most overpowering flavour and deepest colour due to the aging process.{{Citation needed|date=December 2013}}

Peculiar to the Norwegian tradition are ''Linje Aquavits'' (such as "Løiten Linie" and "Lysholm Linie"). Linje Aquavit is named after the tradition of sending oak barrels of aquavit with ships from Norway to Australia and back again, thereby passing the equator ("linje") twice before being bottled. The constant movement, high humidity, and fluctuating temperature cause the spirit to extract more flavour and contribute to accelerated maturation.

Norwegian aquavit distillers Anora (formerly Arcus) carried out a test where they tried to emulate the rocking of the casks aboard the "Linje" ships while the oak barrels were subjected to the weather elements, as they would aboard a ship. The finished product was, according to Anora, far from the taste that a proper ''linje'' aquavit should have.{{Citation needed|date=June 2009}}

Therefore, to this day, boats loaded with "Linie Aquavit" set sail from Norway to Australia and back again before they are bottled and sold as part of the Norwegian Christmas traditions, but also enjoyed all year round.