Grandpa Lundquist Christmas Soda
/So who’s ready for the New Year? Who’s ready to let go of 2012 and move on to 2013 with new goals in mind? What’s that you say “Guy who had the best 2012 ever”? You’re not ready to let go just quite yet? Well what if I told you I could give you an extra week? What if you could drink a soda and get exactly one week back? You can’t, but I am going to review this Grandpa Lunquist Christmas Soda a week late regardless. Who knows, maybe it’ll remind you so much of the last week it’ll feel like you hopped in the DeLorean/TARDIS/Phone Booth and took a trip 7 days backwards. This particular soda is sweetened with cane sugar and caffeine free, yay for that. It also has natural hops and malt in its list of ingredients, boo to that. In case you’re unfamiliar with Christmas soda this bottle has a brief history lesson on it.
During Jul (pronounced “yule” – Swedish for Christmas), children and adults alike enjoy Julmust, a unique, sweet and flavorful winter soft drink.
Created in 1920, Julmust was quickly embraced and continues to be a part of Swedish culture to this day.
Start your own tradition by serving ice cold Grandpa Lunquist Christmas Soda at all your holiday gatherings and winter events.
So there you have it. I guess a review qualifies as a winter event so I guess I should get cracking. Onward!
The last Christmas soda reviewed on this site was done by Mike and if I remember correctly he hated it. Upon opening this bottle I have to admit I’m a little sad that it didn’t fill the room with a pine aroma. Instead my nose searched out a citrus/cola scent that holds licorice tones as well. Honestly I have no idea what this smells like, but my brain is still trying to piece together similar scent in hopes of an accurate description. It doesn’t smell gross, so there’s that.
While I expected to hate a hops/barely beverage I don’t hate this. Grandpa Lunquist Christmas Soda has a noticeable flavor similarity to green cough syrup, but the flavor isn’t so bold as to keep you from taking another sip. Much like many holiday treats this beverage has a tummy warming characteristic as well. I wouldn’t liken it to whisky or anything like that, but it does warm unlike most sodas. After the cough syrup taste has subsided I was greeted with a flat cola flavor that just sort of sits on the back of my tongue. Oddly enough this is considerably more refreshing than I ever would have predicted it to be. Would I open the fridge after a long run only to pull out a Grandpa Lunquist Christmas Soda? No. Would I enjoy this with some popcorn or salty salty chips? Yes, yes I would. You’d think that when my main two descriptors of a soda are “cough syrup” and “flat cola” that I would give it a scathing review. Maybe it’s the Christmas magic jammed into this bottle, but I don’t hate this soda. I wouldn’t put it on the syllabus as required drinking, but if you see a bottle pick it up.
~A
Merry Twistmas!
