Continuing the Swedish Christmas Reviews

I think my last post was too boring, so this one is going to be about some of my other favorite things - julöl, glögg och godis. I stopped in at Systembolaget yesterday and picked up two new beers. I had recently found these julöl reviews in The Local and wanted to try some of their recommendations. I found two of the recommended beers - Anchor Christmas Ale and Nils Oscar Julöl. I decided that the Anchor Christmas Ale was too American, and so bought the Nils Oscar and Jämtlands Julöl. Although, now that I'm looking, I actually bought Nils Oscar Kalasjulöl.

Julöl and Swedish Advent candles

This evening I had the Kalasjulöl, and it was wonderful. Lighter than some of the heavier Christmas porters that I enjoy so much, but not overly hoppy. We've been on a role with successful Christmas tastings lately, as we have also enjoyed all three grocery store (aka low alcohol) glögg that we've tried.

How many kinds of glögg can one household have?

The boxed glögg contains no alcohol and tastes like hot cider, which is fantastic. It's also sold quite cheaply, which makes it a win in my book. I feel Blossa Glögg is your classic glögg, which means it's also fantastic. The Chili Chocolate might be our favorite though. The chocolate flavor made it sweet, without being overpowering.

Last but not least, we tried Julskum. We found two different flavors to sample, the traditional and Polka 2011. I thought they were shaped like Santa Claus, but apparently they are Tomte. Tomte features prominently on all Christmas merchandise.

Mostly pink is original, mostly white is Polka.

I really love Julskum. I have a weakness for gummies and chewy candy and these Tomte have the right consistency. They feel a bit like marshmallow, but they are not so sticky. They have a similar consistency to somewhat stale Peeps - which is, of course, the only way Peeps should be eaten. Anyway, that's a bad description, but take it from me that their consistency is perfect. The original ones are fake strawberry flavored and the Polka are spearmint(?). They taste just like those pastel mint nonpareils or after dinner mint pillows. (I'm surprised that a google search for after dinner mint pillows actually gave me what I wanted). I'm really not doing them justice, so I'll have to bring home a few bags for people to try. Needless to say, Ross doesn't like them - although he kept on eating them.

Saturday is the Linné Julbak where we divide into teams and compete to make the best gingerbread house. Then on Sunday Ross and I are traveling to Stockholm to visit the Christmas markets, drink glögg and eat ice cream. The forecast for Sunday says snow showers, which would make the trip a perfect Christmas outing! So far we still have rain and warm evenings (4°C on Tuesday). Just a small snowstorm would make it feel all Christmasy.