Must drink on Christmas

When browsing around Christmas cookies and Glögg, I saw a (probably) 6-year-old boy holding 2 bottles of Julmust, queuing at cashier with his mom. He looked happy and satisfied. The drink in his hands looked yummy. And with picture of uncle elf unloading presents from Santa's bag in its label, it also looked warm and homey. For one moment I thought uncle elf smirked and said 'pick me!'. So I grabbed one and walked to cashier. Then chilled it in refrigerator.

Julmust is a traditional drink from Sweden, appears only during festive season. Julmust (Jul = Christmas) in December and påskmust in Easter. Must itself simply means must. So it is a must-to-have-drink for Swedes during festive. Made of made of carbonated water, sugar, hops extract, malt extract, spices, coloring, citric acid, and preservatives. Hops and malt extracts give a somewhat beer-like taste, but it is not fermented and contains no alcohol. (Yes, non-alcohol, otherwise I've probably mistaken a boy with midget in Mickey Mouse t-shirt).

OK, my Julmust was chilled and ready to drink. It did smell a bit like beer but not the taste. It tasted like cough syrup with soda. I know that some of Christmas drinks are supposed to be consumed warm, so I left it out for a while and gave another sip. Still tasted like cough syrup. Drinkable, but not something you're looking forward when thirsty. Wonder whether that boy finished his.