Swedes drink 40 million liters of Christmas must every year. Despite Coca-Cola investing in massive advertising campaigns, the Christmas must lowers Coca-Cola sales in December each year.
The Christmas must was launched in Sweden in the early 20th century by father and son Robert and Harry Roberts. From the beginning, it was thought that the Christmas must would be a non-alcoholic variant of the Christmas beer. The recipe is, like coca-colas, secret. Only three people know the exact ingredients in the original Christmas must. All employees at the family company Roberts AB in Örebro. In addition to the secret ingredients, Christmas must consists of about thirty ingredients, including hop and malt extracts, caramel color, citric acid and sweeteners.
But of course it would be fun to offer homemade Christmas must, here is a recipe that gives you a really tasty must. Start by making the soda start.
8 servings
Ingredients
Soda start
500 ml water
2 tablespoons ginger, finely grated
1 tablespoon raw sugar
1.5 tablespoons powdered sugar
Christmas must
100 g raisins
3 dried figs or dates
4 prunes or dates
100 g fresh ginger, finely chopped
100g juniper, dried and lightly crushed
2 pieces of orange peel
2 nutmeg flowers
3 cloves
10 cardamom , green
2 star anise
5 cinnamon sticks
2 teaspoons citric acid
3.5 l water
400 g muscovado sugar, dark (or raw sugar)
200 ml soda start, see recipe
Do this
Soda start: Stir all ingredients together in a well-cleaned glass jar or plastic can. Cover with a thin kitchen towel held in place with a rubber band. Then the soda start can breathe.
Let the jar stand for 4-6 days, preferably where it is a little warmer than room temperature, then the process will start faster. Stir 1-3 times a day. Add 1 teaspoon grated ginger and 1 teaspoon raw sugar once a day to the mixture. When you see bubbles on the surface and hear a squeaking sound as you stir, the soda start is complete.
Continue to "feed" the soda start daily with raw sugar and ginger so you can make more must later if you want.
Mix 1 liter of water with fruit, spices and citric acid in a saucepan. Bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes.
Pour in the sugar and let it melt. Remove the pan from the heat and add another 2.5 liters of water.
Cover with a plastic wrap or tight-fitting lid on the cooled saucepan. Let stand and soak for about 12 hours.
Strain and mix in 200 ml of soda starter.
Cover and let rest with a clean cloth at room temperature for 3-5 days.
On the third day you taste. The fermentation reduces the sugar, so the longer the must stands and dies, the less sweet it becomes. It should sound a bit like soda when you stir, then the must is ready.
Pour into well-cleaned plastic or glass bottles.
The carbon dioxide is formed naturally if you leave the bottles at room temperature for 1-2 days.
To stop the fermentation, put the must in the refrigerator where it lasts for about a month.
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