The annual war has begun.
CocaCola versus Julmust.

This is the current war in Sweden. Forget about Iraq, Afghanistan or Israel. It's here the battle is.

The battle of the soft drinks.

I'm sure most of you are wondering what the hell is she talking about. Well let me explain it a bit better for you.

Julmust (pronounced yule-moost) is a traditional soft drink that everybody in Sweden drinks around Christmas time. It looks like coke but it has some distinct differences. Taste being the most important. It tastes like Christmas!!! Well, for most Swedes anyway. It's really hard to explain to an outsider. One American I spoke to said it tasted like a mixture between beer and coke. Hmm, not sure about that. Another expat muttered something about a bit of a sarsaparilla taste. Hmm... nope, that's not quite right either.

Secondly, it's a tradition and tradition in Sweden is hard to erase. Now, this is something the Coca-Cola company has a hard time dealing with. They don't want miss out on those extra dollars they could make for those three months. (did I mention that we also have Påskmust at Easter?). Not that they will lose any big sums because, after all, they have the rest of the world. Even in far away places that I have never heard of, they drink coke. Incredible.

So far I'm happy to report that in Sweden at Christmas, Julmust is the winner by a long shot. Must was created by Harry Roberts in the early 1900's as a non-alcoholic alternative to beer. And the syrup is still made exclusively by Roberts AB in Örebro. The original recipe is said to be locked up in a safe and only two people know the full recipe.

Must is made from carbonated water, sugar, hops extract, malt extract and spices. The hops and malt extract give the must a somewhat beer-like taste, but must is not fermented and contains no alcohol. Must can be aged provided it is stored in a glass bottle. Some people buy must in December only to store it a year before drinking it.

Julmust is the source of some real annoyance at Coca-Cola in Sweden, since Sweden is the only country where the consumption of Coca-Cola drops dramatically over Christmas. Most Swedes drink julmust instead. This was quoted as one of the main reasons Coca-Cola broke away from their contract with Pripps and started Coca-Cola Drycker Sverige AB. Ironically enough, Coca-Cola later felt it was necessary to make their own julmust.

In Sweden every Christmas, 50 million litres of must is consumed. That's a LOT of drink over November, December and January. You can see why Coca-Cola is pissed off. But despite Coca-Cola pouring in millions in advertising, special offers, give aways, fluffy toys, Christmas packaging etc, the Swedes stubbornly stick to their Julmust. You just have to love a nation that refuses to bow to the pressure of modern advertising? And let's face it, Coca-Cola is one company that usually knows how to scare off "the opposition". Ha Ha, guys, it just doesn't work here!


In this article from Aftonbladet it is reported that sales of Coca-Cola drop an amazing 50% here in Sweden over Christmas. And today, even among the young, if you ask which drink will they serve at their Christmas party, they all reply "Julmust of course!" Somehow, it's just not Christmas without it!

And what are we serving at our julbord? Why, JULMUST självklart!

To close, I leave you with my Zen thought for the day:

A closed mouth gathers no foot.

Till next time!