Julmust

Ingredients

What is in the commercial bottle

• Carbonated water
• Sugar, usually as beet or invert sugar
• Hopped malt extract, the flavour base licensed from Roberts in Örebro
• Citric acid
• Caramel colour
• Spice extracts, the exact recipe a family secret since 1910
• No alcohol at all

Home approximation

• 150 glight dried malt extract, or 250 ml liquid malt extract
• 1.5 litreswater
• 250 gcaster sugar
• 3 gbittering hops, such as Northern Brewer
• 1cinnamon stick
• 4cloves
• 2star anise
• 1 tspground ginger
• seeds of 3 cardamom pods
• 1 tbspblack treacle, for colour
• 1 tspcitric acid, or juice of 1 lemon

To carbonate and serve

• ¼ tspchampagne yeast, for bottle carbonation, or a soda siphon
• 2clean 1 litre plastic bottles with tight caps
• a glass, chilled to 6 to 8°C (45°F)

Directions

1. Add the cinnamon, cloves, star anise, ginger and cardamom for the last 5 minutes only, so the spice stays aromatic rather than woody.
2. Strain through muslin into a jug, stir in the sugar and treacle until fully dissolved, and add the citric acid to taste; it should be sweet, faintly bitter and clearly spiced.
3. Top up to 2 litres with cold water and cool to below 25°C (75°F). To carbonate naturally, stir in the champagne yeast, bottle in plastic bottles leaving 4 cm of headspace, cap tightly and leave at room temperature 24 to 36 hours until the bottles are rock hard when squeezed, then refrigerate immediately to stop the ferment.
4. Chill at least 24 hours; the spice and malt round out considerably in the cold.

Technique

• Julmust outsells cola in Sweden every December, and the same drink is rebranded and sold as påskmust at Easter with different labels and the same recipe.
• The hops matter. Without that light bitterness the drink is just spiced sugar water, and Swedes will immediately notice it tastes wrong.
• If you bottle-carbonate with yeast, use plastic bottles and refrigerate on schedule. Glass bottles left at room temperature can over-pressurise and burst, and a long ferment will also start producing alcohol.

Substitutions

• No malt extract: 200 g of dark rye malt or a bottle of non-alcoholic malt drink boiled down concentrates the same flavour, though it will be less clean.
• For a fully alcohol-free result, force-carbonate with a siphon or a countertop carbonator rather than using yeast.

Variations

• Påskmust, the identical drink sold at Easter.
• Julmust poured half and half with cola, a common teenage habit that horrifies purists.
• Julmust served warm with a cinnamon stick, occasionally offered as a non-alcoholic alternative to glögg.

History

Created in 1910 by Harry Roberts as a non-alcoholic alternative during the temperance era.

Frequently asked questions

What is Julmust?

Julmust is a drink from Sweden: dark spiced malt soft drink that outsells cola each Swedish Christmas. Created in 1910 by Harry Roberts as a non-alcoholic alternative during the temperance era.

How long does Julmust take to make?

Julmust takes 20 min of preparation and 3 days chilling and carbonating of cooking. The recipe makes 2 litres. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Julmust?

Yes, within limits. No malt extract: 200 g of dark rye malt or a bottle of non-alcoholic malt drink boiled down concentrates the same flavour, though it will be less clean. For a fully alcohol-free result, force-carbonate with a siphon or a countertop carbonator rather than using yeast.

What is the most important thing to get right in Julmust?

Add the cinnamon, cloves, star anise, ginger and cardamom for the last 5 minutes only, so the spice stays aromatic rather than woody.