Where should I start with this?  Julmust is a pretty unique beverage to Sweden.  Swedes go absolutely apeshit for this stuff and it’s only available at Christmas, when it outsells Coke by a wide margin.  The name comes from a combination of Swedish words; Jul=Christmas, must=juice.  Julmust=Christmas Juice, remember that one, dear readers.  Strangely, it is available at Easter too, but it’s called Påskmust.  Some people say that påskmust is a bit lighter in flavor, but frankly, the only difference I can tell is that it has yellow chickies on the label instead of the fat man with the beard.

My wife, who happens to be Swedish, loves this drink and gets excited like a little kid every year when it’s available (Swedes also like Glögg and surströmming, but that’s a whole other article).  We did come to an understanding that she probably enjoys Julmust in the way that I enjoy root beer and that we would probably never understand that about each other, and that it was OK that way.  Every year I try it again to see if my impression changes and every year I have the same reaction:

Who opened a bottle of Dr. Pepper, left it on the counter for three days opened and then gave it to me?

I can see some theoretical parallels to root beer in that Julmust is made with hops and barley malt extracts as well as a pretty secret blend of spices, but despite all claims, there is no comparison.  If you want to try it, you can find Nygårda at your closest IKEA.  There are several other varieties in Sweden, but this one is pretty much the standard.

Monthly Root Beer Rating: 3 (sorry, honey)

Related Articles

• Glögg Comes Early To Andersonville (chicagoist.com)
• Lindsay Lohan: Rehab Root Beer! (justjared.buzznet.com)