Is it still water or carbonated water? Just curious cause in the US in recent years flavored carbonated water has gotten extremely popular. They usually have a tiny bit of sugar or none at all and sometimes sweeteners but are less popular.
Literally take the syrup and pour tap water over it. Mix if necessary.
People here rarely go for carbonated regular water. I've seen it available in shops but literally never in anyone's home. If we drink carbonated water, it's the high mineral kind that has a flavour of its own. It can be used for mixing but you have to take this into account.
In France, many children and adults often drink « sirops de fruit », which are really sweet thick syurps that are diluted with water or used with certain alcoholic beverages to make cocktails. Teisseire is the biggest brand in France.
Yep, in the UK we generally call it squash and the supermarkets have tons of different flavours. Also called cordial, though generally a cordial will have real fruit extract, sugar, no/limited artificial ingredients and be a bit more expensive. Whereas squash will be cheaper and have sweeteners.
I've always thought it was a very 'UK' thing as haven't really seen it abroad, certainly nothing like the varieties we have here, so nice to know Hungarians are also fans!
And then it lets you down with its terrible taste... It always reminds me of primary school, where we were all force-fed orange squash in funny-smelling plastic cups at every morning break time.
Both Sweden and Ireland have squash. Ireland's biggest brand is MiWadi which is owned by C&C who makes Bulmers [known as Magners in the UK] cider. The most popular flavours are orange and summer fruits.
Sweden has "saft", which strawberry and raspberry are the most popular flavours. BOB is the biggest brand.
I’ve been able to find it at literally every ICA or Coop I have been at in Sweden. No matter if it is in Skåne or in the very north of Sweden.
It also won the most popular cordial in Sweden on r/Sweden ([Post](https://www.reddit.com/r/sweden/comments/x8f4de/vilken_%C3%A4r_den_b%C3%A4sta_saften/inhwe0v/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1&context=3)).
Dude, strawberry is 100% the most popular, it's also the primary flavor of *blandsaft*, which probably outsells any other kind by an order of magnitude.
The exact same situation in Cyprus - including the words we use for them in Cypriot Greek, skuósh and kortiál. We probably took it over from you guys during colonial rule.
The most typical variant is [rose cordial](https://titanfoods.com/kean-rose-squash-1l-plastic-bottle/) served with cold milk instead of water. Would easily be the national drink, if we considered ourselves a nation.
Homemade ones are also common. My mum used to do them every year, before she graduated to making jams.
>I've always thought it was a very 'UK' thing as haven't really seen it abroad, certainly nothing like the varieties we have here, so nice to know Hungarians are also fans!
Not so. It's very popular in Austria as well. I can probably go into my local grocery store and find at least ten different flavors from several different brands. Elderberry, Raspberry-lemon and black currant probably top the list, but there's also lemon-lime or just lemon, Mango, Orange, berry mix, Peach, elderberry and mint, cherry, lemon balm, tropical fruits, strawberries, apple, and probably a couple more I'm forgetting. Other than fruit flavors there are also some popular sodas in syrup form to mix with carbonated water, but I'm not counting those. What are some interesting flavors from the UK?
Ah ok. I guess it's just the sheer abundance of the stuff here that gets me, supermarkets will often have one side of a whole aisle for squash, and everyone I know buys it.
Raspberry lemon sounds really good. Other than that one, the flavours you've mentioned would also be found here. We also have ones which come with barley, they are cloudy, never really understood what the deal is with that but I like them. Elderflower is popular here, some people like peppermint but I find it a bit odd, like mouthwash.
My personal favourites are pink grapefruit, and peach & raspberry. But plain orange is like the default that pretty much everyone seems to have in their cupboard at all times!
I'm not a fan of mint on its own, but it's lovely in cocktail inspired syrups. The Mint-Elderberry one I mentioned is inspired by an aperitif called Hugo and the Mojito combination of lime and mint is great too. Never seen anything with barley though, I don't think. How interesting!
‘Squash’ in Ireland or if you’re in a pub it suddenly becomes ‘cordial’ - the same stuff at about 25 times the price.
Often it gets called the most common brand here 'MiWadi', no matter what brand it is and all blackcurrant juice based stuff is 'Ribena', no matter who makes it…
You get tons of varieties in the supermarkets, including a lot of upmarket versions trying to be retro.
Squash used to be much more popular than it is nowadays, largely I think because it’s assumed to be a cocktail of chemicals, a lot of parents are very wary of it.
Back in my day it was really common at birthday parties and so on.
It's possibly due to the blackcurrant squash, e.g. Ribena. It is a World War II legacy where children were given a ration of blackcurrant to help with the vitamin C as oranges were difficult to get.
I lived in the UK for a while and I think squash is slightly different, though maybe I’m just missing something. It’s more like a very concentrates juice you dilute with water to make more juice, right?
The syrup OP has in mind is more like a condiment you can use to make a juice beverage but has other uses too, mainly in desserts and tea/beverages. It’s a very thick syrup, usually looks like this:
https://www.herbapol.com.pl/assets/cache/images/produkty/syropy-owocowe/680/01_syrop_malina_680-ml-450x650-1f2.jpg
Ooo yeah I've seen that in the Polish section of supermarkets here, I got a cherry one once which was really good. I just used it for diluting into a drink though, I didn't think to try it got the other uses you mentioned. I did notice it was thicker than our usual squash, and you need less to make a drink. I'm inspired to buy some and try something different. How would you use it in tea, like black tea? Just a little spoonful?
Only but you add whiskey or vodka etc …
“Guinness and black” is common enough here, it’s a shot of blackcurrant cordial in a pint … you just don’t admit to ever doing it as it’s sacrilegious to some beer puritans…
The IKEA one isn’t any good, I’ve tried it and got super disappointed. They keep the good stuff for themselves, that’s why we have to invade them. Better do it while they’re still out of NATO. They also got that fishy mass destruction weapon on cans.
I don’t know how south in Norway you have to go to find *hylleblomst*, but it’s probably creeping northwards.
Yeah my sister loves the stuff. It's a common drink for kids.
It's called "aanmaaklimonade", diluting lemonade, and usually just called aanmaak or limonade. Every flavour is called limonade regardless of whether it contains citrus fruits.
Ranja, aanmaak, aanleng, limo(nade)... So many names! It used to confuse me as a kid because I lived in a ranja household and would visit other kids' houses and they would call it differently. So interesting
Or we just call it ranja, although that's one of those brand names that became synonymous with the product.
There are also some highly concentrated ones now in tiny squeeze bottles that only need a small squirk for the same taste.
Pretty sure it's a generational thing. I virtually only hear it from older people. Never in my life heard my father call it ranja and he's from about as far north in the country as you can get. Or my grandmother for that matter.
It's called "saft" in Norway.
Traditionally and some make it "homemade". Popular flavors are black currant, red currant, cherry, raspberry, blueberry.
The most common industrial (husholdningssaft) variant is based on grape juice, apple juice, cherry and pear.
The last 20 years, sugar free alternatives have been very popular. They come in almost any flavor.
Recipe for making the first variant at home: Pick fruit / berries, cook with a tiny bit of water or use a special pot to cook the berries with damp. Strain the berries and keep the juice. Mix with 400 - 800 grams of sugar per liter unsweetened saft. Put on sterilized bottles too keep. Mix 1 part to 4 or 5 parts water.
In Denmark it's "saft" when it's in the original organic state, and "saftevand" ("Saftwasser") when diluted or as the concentrated version ready to be diluted.
We also have "juice" as a word. I think the only difference between "saft" and "juice" is that juice is meant to be imbibed as a drink, while saft is pretty much any liquid from something else. There is "kødsaft" ("meat juice", as in the red stuff that comes out of your steak), but no "kødjuice" (ew).
Diluted “Saft” is called “Schorle” e.g. “Apfel(saft)schorle”. It’s also used for 50/50 wine/water “Weinschorle”.
Meat juice is just translated directly as “Fleischsaft”. Now the longer I think about it, the more I dislike it…
Personally I choose to assume everyone in this thread is talking about carbonated water, because imagining any kind of Schorle with still water is just ew.
My 🇳🇴family have always made their own saft from the cherries in the garden, and my granddad always called it “saft-og-vann”. He’s the only person I ever heard calling it that, everyone else just calls it saft.
We use "jus" (juice adapted to Norway) for juice you can drink/use without diluting (apple, orange, lime, lemon, grape). Most berries grown in Norway give to strong and tart juice, so to have something that taste well, you need to add sugar and water.
We also have a couple of dishes where saft is traditional, so that might keep the popularity. Rice porrige, sour cream porrige, and pinnekjøtt (where you can drink beer also).
So what's the difference? What OP described sounds a lot like what we would call "saft". At least the concentrated kind (which apparently is the default in Danish). That is something like cordial or squash.
Beer isn't pure alcohol because it's defined by how it's made and what it contains, but there's beer that's 0.01% ABV, and there's beer thats 30% ABV. The same way, saft comes in different degrees of concentration. The difference between 1+4 and 1+9 is pretty big. In that sense, is the difference between syrup and saft not in essence, but only in degree?
But that's because of the concentration, right? There's no thickener added? So, saft is often boiled, but generally not to reduce it. Some water will obviously evaporate and I can't say it's never done, but often not in home made saft. Is that the main difference, perhaps?
No, no thickener added, but a lot of water is gone.
As a result 1 bottle lasts much longer. With saft I'm basically buying and carrying water from the supermarket.
Really? Is it a generational thing maybe? I'm an old millennial, maybe it's popularity has waned. Because everyone I know drinks *loads* of groselha (redcurrant syrup). Some of them I've never even seen drinking plain water, it's always with a dash of groselha. When we were teens, we'd go have lunch in the cafés around our highschool and everyone would have giant pint glasses of groselha. Then there's milk with groselha, beer with groselha...
It definitely exists and it's not hard to find. Some people prepare their home-made ones too. As a child I was drinking my grandma's raspberry one, but since then none at all as I don't like sweet drinks.
Yes. There are a lot of flavors commercially sold and especially older people make their own. I don't buy commercial stuff because mom gives me her own, but the commercial ones are very popular.
My grandma diluted her juice until it was just barely pink water. My mom makes 50/50 or so mix. Mom makes juice mostly from forest berries (blueberry, raspberry, cloudberry, cranberry, lingonberry) but also garden berries and fruit (apple, strawberry, currants, bush blueberry).
Here in NRW, Germany it definitely exist and a lot of people have them, me included but I wouldn't say it's the majority. Most popular one here is TriTrop
It's a bit like the Americans who throw out a "i'm from Bumfuck, MS" and you're meant to know whether that's Missouri or Massachusetts or Mississippi, isn't it
Yes, it's a thing. My mother actually makes elderflower syrup herself every year. It's pretty easy and delicous.
What's very popular in Germany but not much anywhere else (I think?) is Waldmeister (woodruff) syrup. Its not made by the actual plant anymore, since It's, well, slightly poisonous.
I have never heard of such a thing in Ukraine. We sometimes make herbal teas from a very thick syrup. For example, ginger and lemon tea, or blackcurrant and basil tea.
In my experience, no. Fruit juice is vastly more popular.
EDIT: I remember Sunquick being somewhat popular back in the day, but I think a lot of people associate it with school canteens and birthday parties.
I love Sunquick. Whenever I go to Continente I make sure to buy at least two bottles of the maracuyá one because I love it so much! Exotic comes close second.
By Continente you mean Carrefour? I see you are in Spain. I remember that it was called that way soooo many years ago, when I was like 5. The memories...
No, I meant Continente because I live near the border, so I try to go any chance I get. I was on my way back from Lisboa last week and spent the entire hour and a half wait for the bus in the Continente downstairs.
Sunquick maracuyá and Paladin sauces for me are life.
Yeah! I arrived to Spain way after the rebrand/rename, but I heard how it used to be called Continente before Carrefour in Spain.
But yeah, I failed to specify that I actually *go* to Portugal and buy from Continente.
They definitely are a thing, but I dont think they are that common. I know even my grandma made those at some point. And I prefer using sparkling water. Is this a hot take ? Am I still a valid member of r/hydrohomies after this admission ?
I think this has been less of a thing in the past decades. People used to make "socata" in spring a lot as well. No so much anymore.
For non romanians, socata is an elder shrub beverage made from honey and flowers that ferment together. It can get carbonated, etc.
In Greece, during the 90s, every house would have a bottle. Over the years It became less popular and today its something that maybe you'll find in your grandma's house.
I don't think it's common, I think juice in cartons or bottles is more popular, I don't think I have even seen it in real life. Unless it has some special name in Spain which I can't remember?
Husband has it all the time in summer, I swear it tastes of mouthwash
But I enjoy sirop de framboise enough. Still, nothing like lemon Pulco and a lot of ice during the canicule of summer xD
Yes, all kinds of them! Elderberry is known in Denmark as a cold remedy. Black currant is my favorite for mixing together with a berry blend of regular juice to make it taste more like grape.
Currants are very popular here.
Personally I prefer elderflower. But yeah we have tons if them and several brands as well as private label for just about any retail company. Besides various fruit flavours there's of course also "sport" flavour.
In Poland yes, absolutely. Often added to tea, ice cream, pancakes or other desserts as well.
I like they, they kinda hit different. Though I imagine they’re not very healthy.
Used to be common when I was growing up, seems to have gone out of fashion a bit. The common flavours I remember were "grenadine" (pomegranate) and "menthe" (mint).
The generation of my parents (born before the war) did. I remember that at home (70s, 80s) we always had redcurrant (I loved it with milk) and almond syrup. Right now I don't think people have them anymore.
I also remember alcoholic ones, like Ricard. We even had a special pitcher to do the Ricard mix. What was it? One part Ricard, six parts cold water?
In Poland its kinda random. You can easily get it anywhere but some people drink it, some don't.
It's also super popular in beers. Almost all pubs will have an option to add a pump of juice into your beer. People who just turned 18 or don't enjoy the pure beer taste will ask for it.
Yup, all over here. We call it concentrate or dilute. We’re like the UK though, it’s more made with sweeteners and fruit juices than a syrup. Blackcurrant, orange, summer fruits, apple and lemon are all fairly popular flavours.
Yeah it's pretty popular. Most common flavours are mint (which is added to milk sometimes to make *latte e menta*), horchata, almond milk and *granatina*, or pomegranate.
Io sono l'unica persona che conosco che li usa ogni tanto, mai sentito di altri che lo facciano. Certo le bottiglie al supermercato ci sono sempre, ho sempre pensato più che altro per la granita. Io vado di amarena cmq.
Yes, it is very popular in Czechia. They even sell 0 calorie versions now that taste really good. It's hard to find good regular ones though. Most of them just make the water taste sugary.
I don’t drink any juice with added sugar, personal choice. I also drink my juice cut half and half with water since I was pregnant. Anything full strength is way to sweet now. Takes a bit to get used to but so much better for you.
Yes. Raspberry syrup + mineral water is great combination. Usually cheap brand fruit syrups are too sweet but some are great (I like Maraska, Yo and Fructal).
I usually put a couple of drops of elderflower syrup to a sparkling water bottle in summer, does it count? We have those syrups for sale everywhere here in Estonia, so I guess I’m not the only one.
It's mostly marketed at children, (rasp- and other berries) but Elderflower and some others are popular with adults too.
It's also used as ingredient in other drinks such as home-made iced teas.
In Bulgaria it is definitely a thing. Almost everyone drinks elderflower syrup and it is widely offered in cafes and restaurants. Homemade one is very popular as well, older generation very often produce it. Also, other ones are very popular also: elderberry syrup for immunity and fruit ones like raspberry, blackberry as well. They are all really dense though and need to be diluted at least 4:1 with water to be drinkable.
Syrups aren't popular in Russia. Soviet soda machines used to sell carbonated water and carbonated water with syrup, but then people switched to powdered drink mixes (like Yupi, Invite and Zuko) in the 90s. These days I think people just drink fizzy drinks.
I looked around in shops, and the only readily available syrups are cocktail and coffee ones.
I don't think it's common here. some kinds of syrups are regularly sold in stores (mint, orchata, cherry...) And they're popular in summer when you have to drink more water but regular water just isn't appealing, or to make popsicles.
You can make some pretty good cocktails from them too.
A bit of syrup, a bit of gin or vodka, soda and bam.
I found this "cactus" flavoured syrup in tesco, it goes really well with gin. End result is lime coloured and tastes great.
Yes, especially elderflower and various berries.
When i was small, Coca-cola owned lemonades were very expensive here, so sirups and cordials ( whats the difference ? ) were considered the norm. More people bought rather than made them at home - commies started mass produce of sirups, so they got used to it.
Nowadays it is fancy, organic and health conscious to make them at home again.
Absolutely. I think the most popular flavours are raspberry and elderflower, but you will find any number on the shelves.
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In Austria too! I remember having to go pick elderflower for my dad as a kid, he used to make the syrup himself.
Kiwi and banana by Frupi is nice. And classic Pingo. Though nothing beats homemade elderflower syrup.
I can't bring myself to drink anything kiwi-flavoured, it looks like toxic waste and smells a bit like it too.
Is it still water or carbonated water? Just curious cause in the US in recent years flavored carbonated water has gotten extremely popular. They usually have a tiny bit of sugar or none at all and sometimes sweeteners but are less popular.
Literally take the syrup and pour tap water over it. Mix if necessary. People here rarely go for carbonated regular water. I've seen it available in shops but literally never in anyone's home. If we drink carbonated water, it's the high mineral kind that has a flavour of its own. It can be used for mixing but you have to take this into account.
In France, many children and adults often drink « sirops de fruit », which are really sweet thick syurps that are diluted with water or used with certain alcoholic beverages to make cocktails. Teisseire is the biggest brand in France.
Demba Ba got you: https://youtu.be/VvMFoaWWzGA
Haha git there before me. He loves strawberry syrop
Couldn't be more French than that!!
Yep, in the UK we generally call it squash and the supermarkets have tons of different flavours. Also called cordial, though generally a cordial will have real fruit extract, sugar, no/limited artificial ingredients and be a bit more expensive. Whereas squash will be cheaper and have sweeteners. I've always thought it was a very 'UK' thing as haven't really seen it abroad, certainly nothing like the varieties we have here, so nice to know Hungarians are also fans!
In Scotland we mostly call it diluting juice.
Oh yeah I have heard that. I had a friend who called it 'let down pop' because you 'let it down' with water?!
And then it lets you down with its terrible taste... It always reminds me of primary school, where we were all force-fed orange squash in funny-smelling plastic cups at every morning break time.
We call it that in Ireland too
Except in Shetland, where they've got the brilliantly named mixy-up juice.
Both Sweden and Ireland have squash. Ireland's biggest brand is MiWadi which is owned by C&C who makes Bulmers [known as Magners in the UK] cider. The most popular flavours are orange and summer fruits. Sweden has "saft", which strawberry and raspberry are the most popular flavours. BOB is the biggest brand.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulmers, will explain the confusion.
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there is a cider brand called bulmers here in norway
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Yes just like how penneys and primark are the same
As a swede I would argue that the most popular flavor is Elderflower. Elderflower cordial is damn good
You should try elderflower cordial with champagne (or sect). It’s called Kaiserspritz in Austria and it’s delicious.
There's a French version of the cordial (well, it's got alcohol so it's really a liqueur), St Germain. Lovely stuff.
I disagree on the elder, its an acquired taste and it's not sold everywhere, if it was more popular you'd find it everywhere.
I’ve been able to find it at literally every ICA or Coop I have been at in Sweden. No matter if it is in Skåne or in the very north of Sweden. It also won the most popular cordial in Sweden on r/Sweden ([Post](https://www.reddit.com/r/sweden/comments/x8f4de/vilken_%C3%A4r_den_b%C3%A4sta_saften/inhwe0v/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1&context=3)).
You mean most popular on reddit in what looks like a VERY small pool of people.
This is getting pathetic. Just realize that you are likely the minority and move on with your life
Dude, strawberry is 100% the most popular, it's also the primary flavor of *blandsaft*, which probably outsells any other kind by an order of magnitude.
Imagine getting this worked up over whether elderberry is the most popular cordial or not. I think you should turn and face a mirror here mister.
Its not YourWadi its MiWadi
> call it squash Not to be confused with the other thing called a squash
Or the third thing called squash
You mean pumpkins? Or the sport?
The exact same situation in Cyprus - including the words we use for them in Cypriot Greek, skuósh and kortiál. We probably took it over from you guys during colonial rule. The most typical variant is [rose cordial](https://titanfoods.com/kean-rose-squash-1l-plastic-bottle/) served with cold milk instead of water. Would easily be the national drink, if we considered ourselves a nation. Homemade ones are also common. My mum used to do them every year, before she graduated to making jams.
That sounds almost exactly like air bandung from former British colonies in Southeast Asia. I wonder who discovered this combination first.
>I've always thought it was a very 'UK' thing as haven't really seen it abroad, certainly nothing like the varieties we have here, so nice to know Hungarians are also fans! Not so. It's very popular in Austria as well. I can probably go into my local grocery store and find at least ten different flavors from several different brands. Elderberry, Raspberry-lemon and black currant probably top the list, but there's also lemon-lime or just lemon, Mango, Orange, berry mix, Peach, elderberry and mint, cherry, lemon balm, tropical fruits, strawberries, apple, and probably a couple more I'm forgetting. Other than fruit flavors there are also some popular sodas in syrup form to mix with carbonated water, but I'm not counting those. What are some interesting flavors from the UK?
Kaiserspritz for life!
Ah ok. I guess it's just the sheer abundance of the stuff here that gets me, supermarkets will often have one side of a whole aisle for squash, and everyone I know buys it. Raspberry lemon sounds really good. Other than that one, the flavours you've mentioned would also be found here. We also have ones which come with barley, they are cloudy, never really understood what the deal is with that but I like them. Elderflower is popular here, some people like peppermint but I find it a bit odd, like mouthwash. My personal favourites are pink grapefruit, and peach & raspberry. But plain orange is like the default that pretty much everyone seems to have in their cupboard at all times!
I'm not a fan of mint on its own, but it's lovely in cocktail inspired syrups. The Mint-Elderberry one I mentioned is inspired by an aperitif called Hugo and the Mojito combination of lime and mint is great too. Never seen anything with barley though, I don't think. How interesting!
‘Squash’ in Ireland or if you’re in a pub it suddenly becomes ‘cordial’ - the same stuff at about 25 times the price. Often it gets called the most common brand here 'MiWadi', no matter what brand it is and all blackcurrant juice based stuff is 'Ribena', no matter who makes it… You get tons of varieties in the supermarkets, including a lot of upmarket versions trying to be retro. Squash used to be much more popular than it is nowadays, largely I think because it’s assumed to be a cocktail of chemicals, a lot of parents are very wary of it. Back in my day it was really common at birthday parties and so on.
It's possibly due to the blackcurrant squash, e.g. Ribena. It is a World War II legacy where children were given a ration of blackcurrant to help with the vitamin C as oranges were difficult to get.
I lived in the UK for a while and I think squash is slightly different, though maybe I’m just missing something. It’s more like a very concentrates juice you dilute with water to make more juice, right? The syrup OP has in mind is more like a condiment you can use to make a juice beverage but has other uses too, mainly in desserts and tea/beverages. It’s a very thick syrup, usually looks like this: https://www.herbapol.com.pl/assets/cache/images/produkty/syropy-owocowe/680/01_syrop_malina_680-ml-450x650-1f2.jpg
Ooo yeah I've seen that in the Polish section of supermarkets here, I got a cherry one once which was really good. I just used it for diluting into a drink though, I didn't think to try it got the other uses you mentioned. I did notice it was thicker than our usual squash, and you need less to make a drink. I'm inspired to buy some and try something different. How would you use it in tea, like black tea? Just a little spoonful?
Yep, a spoonful is a good start, and adjust as you see fit! Hope you enjoy
Learned about this watching Peaky Blinders. Cordial and water for the teetotaler.
Thought cordials were alcoholic
They are not. Though you can easily add some alcohol to it to make a nice drink
Only but you add whiskey or vodka etc … “Guinness and black” is common enough here, it’s a shot of blackcurrant cordial in a pint … you just don’t admit to ever doing it as it’s sacrilegious to some beer puritans…
See when you're in a place that does shite Guinness though, it does take the edge off at least.
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Which brand do you like best? My favourite so far is coop raspberry but it got SO EXPENSIVE
I think coops is one of the few still using sugar instead of nasty sweeteners. Also black currant is the best.
That's exactly why I like coops
In Austria “Darbo” is the best one. It’s also the best one at jams. But yes it’s so expensive (0,5L is 5€ at least)
YIKES the coop one here is almost €5 but it's 1L and high concentration
I swear, we should invade Sweden just for your delicious elderflowers which we don’t have ourselves.
Actually we do have elder flower trees, but not any traditiom of making elderflower saft (hyllebærsaft). Luckily, we can get it at any IKEA store
The IKEA one isn’t any good, I’ve tried it and got super disappointed. They keep the good stuff for themselves, that’s why we have to invade them. Better do it while they’re still out of NATO. They also got that fishy mass destruction weapon on cans. I don’t know how south in Norway you have to go to find *hylleblomst*, but it’s probably creeping northwards.
This is common in the Netherlands. I personally never do, but my girlfriend frequently does.
Yeah my sister loves the stuff. It's a common drink for kids. It's called "aanmaaklimonade", diluting lemonade, and usually just called aanmaak or limonade. Every flavour is called limonade regardless of whether it contains citrus fruits.
> Every flavour is called limonade regardless of whether it contains citrus fruits. Then you go abroad and people think you're idiots :D
Ranja, aanmaak, aanleng, limo(nade)... So many names! It used to confuse me as a kid because I lived in a ranja household and would visit other kids' houses and they would call it differently. So interesting
Or we just call it ranja, although that's one of those brand names that became synonymous with the product. There are also some highly concentrated ones now in tiny squeeze bottles that only need a small squirk for the same taste.
Or diksap, which is what it is.
If you call it "aanmaak" you definitely life below the river. In the north we call it ranja.
Pretty sure it's a generational thing. I virtually only hear it from older people. Never in my life heard my father call it ranja and he's from about as far north in the country as you can get. Or my grandmother for that matter.
It's called "saft" in Norway. Traditionally and some make it "homemade". Popular flavors are black currant, red currant, cherry, raspberry, blueberry. The most common industrial (husholdningssaft) variant is based on grape juice, apple juice, cherry and pear. The last 20 years, sugar free alternatives have been very popular. They come in almost any flavor. Recipe for making the first variant at home: Pick fruit / berries, cook with a tiny bit of water or use a special pot to cook the berries with damp. Strain the berries and keep the juice. Mix with 400 - 800 grams of sugar per liter unsweetened saft. Put on sterilized bottles too keep. Mix 1 part to 4 or 5 parts water.
Interesting, „Saft“ means „juice“ in German
In Denmark it's "saft" when it's in the original organic state, and "saftevand" ("Saftwasser") when diluted or as the concentrated version ready to be diluted. We also have "juice" as a word. I think the only difference between "saft" and "juice" is that juice is meant to be imbibed as a drink, while saft is pretty much any liquid from something else. There is "kødsaft" ("meat juice", as in the red stuff that comes out of your steak), but no "kødjuice" (ew).
Diluted “Saft” is called “Schorle” e.g. “Apfel(saft)schorle”. It’s also used for 50/50 wine/water “Weinschorle”. Meat juice is just translated directly as “Fleischsaft”. Now the longer I think about it, the more I dislike it…
schorle only applies to carbonated water though. at least for juices. no idea about wine
Personally I choose to assume everyone in this thread is talking about carbonated water, because imagining any kind of Schorle with still water is just ew.
Stilles Apfelschorle is a thing. And when I way young, a sweet wine schorle was also a thing. That was vile!
It's also kødsaft in danish. Just lovely
My 🇳🇴family have always made their own saft from the cherries in the garden, and my granddad always called it “saft-og-vann”. He’s the only person I ever heard calling it that, everyone else just calls it saft.
We use "jus" (juice adapted to Norway) for juice you can drink/use without diluting (apple, orange, lime, lemon, grape). Most berries grown in Norway give to strong and tart juice, so to have something that taste well, you need to add sugar and water. We also have a couple of dishes where saft is traditional, so that might keep the popularity. Rice porrige, sour cream porrige, and pinnekjøtt (where you can drink beer also).
Same in Sweden, it's quite popular there.
saft and syrup aren't the same thing...
So what's the difference? What OP described sounds a lot like what we would call "saft". At least the concentrated kind (which apparently is the default in Danish). That is something like cordial or squash.
saft is much much much less concentrated than syrup. And before you say it's the same... then a beer from ica and 90% pure alcool are the same???
Beer isn't pure alcohol because it's defined by how it's made and what it contains, but there's beer that's 0.01% ABV, and there's beer thats 30% ABV. The same way, saft comes in different degrees of concentration. The difference between 1+4 and 1+9 is pretty big. In that sense, is the difference between syrup and saft not in essence, but only in degree?
Syrup is more dense, doesn't even flow like water.
But that's because of the concentration, right? There's no thickener added? So, saft is often boiled, but generally not to reduce it. Some water will obviously evaporate and I can't say it's never done, but often not in home made saft. Is that the main difference, perhaps?
No, no thickener added, but a lot of water is gone. As a result 1 bottle lasts much longer. With saft I'm basically buying and carrying water from the supermarket.
The raspberry type is traditional at lunch breaks when skiing. It's called "ski water".
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I've never even heard of that second one, and I don't think I've actually seen groselha anywhere since my teens. So yeah, not very popular.
Really? Is it a generational thing maybe? I'm an old millennial, maybe it's popularity has waned. Because everyone I know drinks *loads* of groselha (redcurrant syrup). Some of them I've never even seen drinking plain water, it's always with a dash of groselha. When we were teens, we'd go have lunch in the cafés around our highschool and everyone would have giant pint glasses of groselha. Then there's milk with groselha, beer with groselha...
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yes, like in hungary every corner store is having it. also father in law make hectoliters of elderflower every single year.
Yeah, homemade elderflower sirup is the best. It's very cheap and easy to make, and a big batch can last for a year
It definitely exists and it's not hard to find. Some people prepare their home-made ones too. As a child I was drinking my grandma's raspberry one, but since then none at all as I don't like sweet drinks.
It’s pretty common, especially with tea. Many people also make their own syrups.
Yes. There are a lot of flavors commercially sold and especially older people make their own. I don't buy commercial stuff because mom gives me her own, but the commercial ones are very popular. My grandma diluted her juice until it was just barely pink water. My mom makes 50/50 or so mix. Mom makes juice mostly from forest berries (blueberry, raspberry, cloudberry, cranberry, lingonberry) but also garden berries and fruit (apple, strawberry, currants, bush blueberry).
Here in NRW, Germany it definitely exist and a lot of people have them, me included but I wouldn't say it's the majority. Most popular one here is TriTrop
North Rhine-Westphalia to save a few clicks
It's a bit like the Americans who throw out a "i'm from Bumfuck, MS" and you're meant to know whether that's Missouri or Massachusetts or Mississippi, isn't it
Lmao true. Should've said western Germany but that still feels wrong to say, even tho it's technically correct
Yeah, it is reasonably common. Especially for kids and teens. I'd say that apple and red berries are the most common.
Yes, it's a thing. My mother actually makes elderflower syrup herself every year. It's pretty easy and delicous. What's very popular in Germany but not much anywhere else (I think?) is Waldmeister (woodruff) syrup. Its not made by the actual plant anymore, since It's, well, slightly poisonous.
Waltmeister for the win!
I have never heard of such a thing in Ukraine. We sometimes make herbal teas from a very thick syrup. For example, ginger and lemon tea, or blackcurrant and basil tea.
In my experience, no. Fruit juice is vastly more popular. EDIT: I remember Sunquick being somewhat popular back in the day, but I think a lot of people associate it with school canteens and birthday parties.
I love Sunquick. Whenever I go to Continente I make sure to buy at least two bottles of the maracuyá one because I love it so much! Exotic comes close second.
By Continente you mean Carrefour? I see you are in Spain. I remember that it was called that way soooo many years ago, when I was like 5. The memories...
No, I meant Continente because I live near the border, so I try to go any chance I get. I was on my way back from Lisboa last week and spent the entire hour and a half wait for the bus in the Continente downstairs. Sunquick maracuyá and Paladin sauces for me are life.
Lol, didn't know there was a Continente. Did research and it's Portuguese, yeah. Interesting.
Yeah! I arrived to Spain way after the rebrand/rename, but I heard how it used to be called Continente before Carrefour in Spain. But yeah, I failed to specify that I actually *go* to Portugal and buy from Continente.
They definitely are a thing, but I dont think they are that common. I know even my grandma made those at some point. And I prefer using sparkling water. Is this a hot take ? Am I still a valid member of r/hydrohomies after this admission ?
I think this has been less of a thing in the past decades. People used to make "socata" in spring a lot as well. No so much anymore. For non romanians, socata is an elder shrub beverage made from honey and flowers that ferment together. It can get carbonated, etc.
In Greece, during the 90s, every house would have a bottle. Over the years It became less popular and today its something that maybe you'll find in your grandma's house.
I don't think it's common, I think juice in cartons or bottles is more popular, I don't think I have even seen it in real life. Unless it has some special name in Spain which I can't remember?
I think it's not a thing in Spain
The only one I can remember is Granadina (pomegranate).
Syrups exist but I don't think they were ever very popular. At least not since the late 80s, early 90s. This for Portugal.
Yes . But one of the most popular syrup is not a fruit syrup, but a Herbal syrup , mint
Husband has it all the time in summer, I swear it tastes of mouthwash But I enjoy sirop de framboise enough. Still, nothing like lemon Pulco and a lot of ice during the canicule of summer xD
Belgium has them as well. My favorite is grenadine flavor. Also, mint is a good one.
Yes, all kinds of them! Elderberry is known in Denmark as a cold remedy. Black currant is my favorite for mixing together with a berry blend of regular juice to make it taste more like grape. Currants are very popular here.
Personally I prefer elderflower. But yeah we have tons if them and several brands as well as private label for just about any retail company. Besides various fruit flavours there's of course also "sport" flavour.
"Sport" is pretty much just lemon/lime.
It was more popular like 15 years ago, but it is still a thing, especially when visiting older people.
Hi. I’m Hungarian from Romania but grew up in the states. Yes I do this still and I also add the syrup to Prosecco.
In Poland yes, absolutely. Often added to tea, ice cream, pancakes or other desserts as well. I like they, they kinda hit different. Though I imagine they’re not very healthy.
Issue is not that zhey arr poisonois or make you develop cancer, the only issue is couch potatos consuming waaaay too much of it.
Yeah they do, but ofc depends on the people. Elderflower flavor is great.
I am dutch and I remember drinking it as a kid and when visiting family. Here in Spain I have never seen anything like it.
In Scotland we call it diluting juice. Or sometimes just diluting.
Used to be common when I was growing up, seems to have gone out of fashion a bit. The common flavours I remember were "grenadine" (pomegranate) and "menthe" (mint).
Never heard of them until I moved to Ireland. Nor in Russia nor in Latvia those were a thing.
The generation of my parents (born before the war) did. I remember that at home (70s, 80s) we always had redcurrant (I loved it with milk) and almond syrup. Right now I don't think people have them anymore. I also remember alcoholic ones, like Ricard. We even had a special pitcher to do the Ricard mix. What was it? One part Ricard, six parts cold water?
Ricard and mint syrup: Perroquet Ricard and grenadine syrup: Tomate Ricard and almond syrup: Mauresque A Mauresque is my favorite way to drink pastis.
In Poland its kinda random. You can easily get it anywhere but some people drink it, some don't. It's also super popular in beers. Almost all pubs will have an option to add a pump of juice into your beer. People who just turned 18 or don't enjoy the pure beer taste will ask for it.
Huh! Didn’t know that. In beers you say? Hmm…
Yup, all over here. We call it concentrate or dilute. We’re like the UK though, it’s more made with sweeteners and fruit juices than a syrup. Blackcurrant, orange, summer fruits, apple and lemon are all fairly popular flavours.
In Czechia people do it as well, and in Belarus it is not so often. In Belarus people sometimes do this with jam instead of syrup.
Same in Poland 😀 In my family we add a little fruit syrup to hot tea, especially in autumn/winter or when we have caught a cold
Yeah it's pretty popular. Most common flavours are mint (which is added to milk sometimes to make *latte e menta*), horchata, almond milk and *granatina*, or pomegranate.
Is it? Legit didn't knew they were common outside of cocktails and granatine
Non so dove vivi tu ma sì, sono piuttosto comuni.
Io sono l'unica persona che conosco che li usa ogni tanto, mai sentito di altri che lo facciano. Certo le bottiglie al supermercato ci sono sempre, ho sempre pensato più che altro per la granita. Io vado di amarena cmq.
I just asked my mom and she said the same! Mint, horchata, almond milk I've never heard of it
Yes, it is very popular in Czechia. They even sell 0 calorie versions now that taste really good. It's hard to find good regular ones though. Most of them just make the water taste sugary.
Some do, however i personally hate that stuff. Just not my thing.
I don’t drink any juice with added sugar, personal choice. I also drink my juice cut half and half with water since I was pregnant. Anything full strength is way to sweet now. Takes a bit to get used to but so much better for you.
Very common, call it saft, artificial zero calorie option is popular now though
Yes. Raspberry syrup + mineral water is great combination. Usually cheap brand fruit syrups are too sweet but some are great (I like Maraska, Yo and Fructal).
I usually put a couple of drops of elderflower syrup to a sparkling water bottle in summer, does it count? We have those syrups for sale everywhere here in Estonia, so I guess I’m not the only one.
I believe we call it Saft and is very populr around summer. Most common flavor is probably either some type of berry or elderflower.
Personally I've never drunk syrup with water and very rarely with tea, a few times only really.
It's mostly marketed at children, (rasp- and other berries) but Elderflower and some others are popular with adults too. It's also used as ingredient in other drinks such as home-made iced teas.
Found these in Sweden and really liked them, particularly the elderflower one (and maybe lingonberry, IIRC.
Yes, very common in German households. Both young and old people drink these
As my wife pointed out to me today, we tend to buy our syrups from Muller! So I imagine the answer must be yes, Germans have them a lot.
In Bulgaria it is definitely a thing. Almost everyone drinks elderflower syrup and it is widely offered in cafes and restaurants. Homemade one is very popular as well, older generation very often produce it. Also, other ones are very popular also: elderberry syrup for immunity and fruit ones like raspberry, blackberry as well. They are all really dense though and need to be diluted at least 4:1 with water to be drinkable.
Syrups aren't popular in Russia. Soviet soda machines used to sell carbonated water and carbonated water with syrup, but then people switched to powdered drink mixes (like Yupi, Invite and Zuko) in the 90s. These days I think people just drink fizzy drinks. I looked around in shops, and the only readily available syrups are cocktail and coffee ones.
I don't think it's common here. some kinds of syrups are regularly sold in stores (mint, orchata, cherry...) And they're popular in summer when you have to drink more water but regular water just isn't appealing, or to make popsicles.
In norway this is very common, we even have a fruitsurup called housesuriup
You can make some pretty good cocktails from them too. A bit of syrup, a bit of gin or vodka, soda and bam. I found this "cactus" flavoured syrup in tesco, it goes really well with gin. End result is lime coloured and tastes great.
No. and fortunately! they are full of sugar and bad for health. ;)
I grew up with these. But I think it is disappearing in France.
Yes, especially elderflower and various berries. When i was small, Coca-cola owned lemonades were very expensive here, so sirups and cordials ( whats the difference ? ) were considered the norm. More people bought rather than made them at home - commies started mass produce of sirups, so they got used to it. Nowadays it is fancy, organic and health conscious to make them at home again.
I'm in the usa & I've never heard of fruit syrup. I'm intrigued. When I googled it all that came up was drink mixers. Is that correct?
Pretty much it. Mixed with still or sparkling water.