Akevitt is Norway's national drink, and the most famous is the Linie Aquavit, so called because it is shipped to Australia and back, across the Equatorial Line, in oak barrels to produce its traditional mellow flavor. This invention was the product of a failed business venture of Jorgen Lysholm, a distillery's owner, who did not sell his barrels of Akevitt in Asia as planned and they were returned to him. Upon inspection, he found that the spirit had changed and had acquired a richer flavor. After this event, Lysholm began loading barrels of Akevitt onto freighters carrying dried cod for export around the world, and retrieving them at the end of the trip. 

Norwegian Akevitt is different from other Aquavit mainly because it is made only from potatoes, and aged in used Sherry casks. Most of the recipes remain secretly guarded, but most of them are spiced with caraway and anise.

Akevitt is specially popular with traditional food for Christmas, and there are at least 27 different types suitable to different kinds of food: