Chicagoans Try Shots of Malort for the First Time

Love it or hate it, Malort will make you a real Chicagoan.

This iconic drink is brutally bitter, but also a rite of passage in the Windy City.

Some Chicagoans tried shots of Malort for the first time, and described the taste as close to gasoline, cough syrup and even "a lot of regret."

CH Distillery CEO Tremaine Atkinson said that Malort is 70 proof and low in sugar.

Atkinson said Malort was brought to Chicago thanks to a man named Carl Jeppson who immigrated from Sweden in the 1920's.

He said secret ingredient is wormwood, which is "one of the most bitter things on the planet."

"The Feds would take a taste and they'd say, 'Whoa, nobody would ever drink that, that must be medicine.' And then after prohibition lifted, everybody started drinking it as a delicious beverage," Atkinson said.