Beer and nubbe are given products for the Swedish Christmas table and come in all sorts, brands, shapes and sizes, but when it comes to what soda to drink, the Swedes are extremely adamant. It must (pun intended) be Julmust! No other soft drink can compete. Every Christmas, Swedes drink almost 40 million liters of this dark, tasty soft drink. Julmust can be traced back all the way to the Viking Age, but the drink as we know it today has its origins in Germany and the Swedish student Harry Roberts. In the late 19th century, Robert Roberts from Helsingborg sent his son Harry to Germany to study chemistry. The father had realised that it was possible to do very good business with soft drinks, an almost exotic concept that was only available in continental Europe. Beer and spirits were the closest things available to the Swedes' thirsty ancestors but Robert Roberts thought the Swedes needed a drink for special occasions that did not contain alcohol. Now it was just a matter of researching a taste that suited Swedish conditions. After many years of researching and experimenting, Harry, through a variety of natural extracts, came up with a very tasty and juicy black soda drink, and with that, he laid the foundation for a completely new market. The company AB Roberts was founded in 1910 and the business was located in Örebro, where it still stands today.

Julmust has continued to be a very Swedish phenomenon, but has spread to our Nordic neighbours - as well as the United States, where this noble drink is known as one of Sweden’s finest products. 

Speaking of the United States, The Coca-Cola Company was (and still is) very annoyed that the sales of Coca-Cola go down tremendously in Sweden every Christmas and have tried all sorts of things to take back the competition, even releasing their own “julmust”. But the Swedes are not fooled and we don’t let anyone mess with our Julmust! 

The recipe is exactly the same since the start. The Julmust secret recipe is so valuable that the recipe and instructions are stored in a safe.

Thank God for Julmust and Harry Roberts who invented what has come to be one of the most important products for Christmas, for what would Christmas be without Julmust?