Brewing Vappusima 🥳

Vappusima on the 1st of May (Vappu in Finnish) is as ubiquitous as the tippaleipä and/or vappumunkki that go with it. It's a sparkling sweet drink perfect for springtime.

Even though Sweden celebrates 1st of May (Valborg in Swedish), they don't seem to have the same traditions as their eastern neighbors. Sadly for the Finnish diaspora in Sweden this means we have to make and bake all the Vappu mainstays ourselves!

I used one of the mead recipes available online.

First I peeled some lemons and added the peels and slices along with the sugars into containers.

Then I heated the water and added it to the mix. I also mixed in a tiny bit of yeast that is required to make the drink sparkly with carbon dioxide (it also creates some alcohol as a bonus).

After a day or so I sifted out the lemon bits and bottled the liquid. It should be ready to drink in a few days, just in time for Vappu!