During my trip to Finland, I tried to be as Finnish as possible. I went snowshoeing on the Baltic Sea and dog sledding in Iso-Syöte. I traveled like a local, heck I even went ice fishing and ate reindeer meat in Oulu, Finland! So naturally my research wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t also drink like a Finn and sample a few Finnish drinks – even if I am a complete lightweight who rarely indulges in more than a glass or two of wine.
Lonkero, my favorite Finnish drink on the left and Salmiakki which tastes like salty black licorice on the right.
First up was Lonkero, a nice orientation into Finnish drinks. “Lonkero” is a type of premixed ready to drink alcoholic beverage. In this case it tasted like lemonade. I really liked it. It was sweet and I could imagine drinking it on a hot sunny day – yes Finland does have hot sunny days which are perfect for canoeing or kayaking, just ask GoArctic!.
My orientation to Finnish drinks complete, my host at Hotel Iso-Syöte next suggested Salmiakki, a dark drink that’s drank as a shot. I was excited to hear that it tasted like black licorice, since I’m a fan of sambuca. Salmiakki is an acquired taste though and while it does taste like black licorice, it was way stronger and saltier than any sambuca I’ve ever had. I struggled to do the entire shot as it was so strong, but I liked the essence of it.
Terva Snapsi is a popular Finnish drink, but it was my least favorite - maybe it was the pine tar that didn't do it for me.
Next up was Terva Snapsi, a liquor made with pine tar – (yes pine tar!) that has a smokey flavor. This was my least favorite, but judging by the number of different occasions it was offered to us, I’m guessing it’s a popular Finnish drink.
Research complete it was time our next dose of Finnish culture – a karaoke bar! All those Finnish drinks give many Finns the liquid courage to become performers, and karaoke bars are thriving in Finland. I decided my research was done for the night – no amount of liquid courage was going to persuade me to get up and sing.
Have you ever drank like a Finn? I would love to hear your impressions about Finnish drinks.
After a long hiatus, Food Friday is back. Check back next Friday to post a link to your own food or drink post.
This is inspiring! I love the local “rot gut” wherever I go…and soon I hope to be eating my way through Finland. I’ll definitely reference this post as my liquid bible.
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@InsideJourneys: in Finland, we don’t care about appetizing or refreshing. We drink to get drunk!
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I very very rarely drink (like once a year??) so I would be the wrong person to taste anything like that! Drinks are a part of culture though, and sometimes I wish I had developed the taste for it.
I’ll pass on anything that tastes like pine tar – but at least you’re a good sport.
I usually don’t like drinking… I’m so uncool I know
Any time I go for a drink I usually have a coke or juice. My girlfriend really like drinking and we travel together..so she will try the drink you suggested!
Ha! I got a great story on the Finns and their drinking. When I first went to Estonia many years ago, they called Finns the 4 legged dogs (or deer – wasn’t sure which translation was correct) because they were the ones drunk and crawling around on all fours!
We had a similar experience on a winter sports trip in Oulanka National Park. We tried the Jellona brand tar and anise schnapps. While the tar tasted somewhat better than it smelled, it’s still an acquired taste. The anise was pretty good, though my favorite liquorice was the Salmiakki kind.
Our favorite were the Lapponia schnapps – the cloudberry was so good, and they had a couple other flavors of berry fruits. A little sweeter and thicker than the schnapps here in Germany, and a nice change. We brought a bottle of that back with us!
The other Finnish drink we learned about was cut brandy. Our guide said that in wartime, brandy was in short supply so Finns would cut it with vodka.
The brand we had available was Jaloviina. The bottle has 1-3 stars on the label. One star indicates one part brandy to two parts vodka (1/3). Three stars means three parts brandy to one part vodka (3/4, a higher quality). We tried a one star variety and it was not bad. The mix is strange at first, but it works.
Thanks for sharing – i’ve enjoyed your finland pics, both as a reminder of a wonderful trip we had, and of a chance to see some of what Finland offers that we missed.
They obviously kept the best shot/ drink from you: Minttu/ Minttu Cacao! Its a strong liqueur, but doesn’t taste at all strong. And Minttu Cacao is perfect drink after a cold day outdoors, I take mine as a night cap when out backpacking in winter!
HI Laurel, Yes, I have drank like a Finn! I lived in Helsinki for 11 months a long time ago on a student exchange and had my share of Finlandia – my favourite drink was always with the cloudberries!!