Julmust

Here's a soda I've had in the back of my fridge since the holidays. Julmust is Swedish, and literally means 'jul' for Christmas, and 'must' for must... so it's a Christmas must. It is primarily sold in Sweden during the holiday season and outsells Coca-Cola during this time. Due to it's popularity recent Easter and Summer versions are sold under their respective names but the drink remains the same. Coca-Cola tried for a time to produce it's own Julmust to compete with the original from Roberts AB, but the line was fazed out.

Harry Roberts, a chemist, created the drink with his father in 1910 as a non-alcoholic alternative to beer. Made with hops, malt extract and other spices, the syrup is still made by the Roberts AB company Örebro, Sweden. It is made in the US by Kristall which also produces a line of fruit-flavored sodas, that include Black Currant and Lingonberry.

It smells like a heavy dark beer, and yes, it tastes like beer. As I am not a beer drinker I was not fond of this drink, but found it interesting to try nonetheless.