This publication contains images and information relating to tobacco products. Drinks start-up Lonkero has launched in the UK, offering a spirit-based alternative to beer and cider. Readers are mainly ex-pats, Lonkero diplomats, international businesses, tourists, and other groups and individuals interested in Finland from all around the world. The long drink remains widely popular in Finland and has also found a foothold in the United States in recent years, where various companies have introduced canned versions.
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- This is one of our takes on Lonkeros – or Longkyrös, as we like to call them – and it is the perfect pick-me-up.
- With the Olympic Games being held in Helsinki, there would be an influx of thirsty athletes and visitors.
- The original intention for Lonkero was as an Olympics-exclusive, but the Finns ended up falling in love with the combination of gin and grapefruit juice.
- Described as a “full-frontal Finnish experience,” it is aimed at festival goers, summer garden parties and those who fancy a refreshing change from the norm.
- Though Lonkero is a new brand, having launched in May last year, the drink itself dates back to 1952, and the Helsinki Olympic Games.
- That shareable quality, I’d argue, is the X-factor that distinguishes a bona fide drink of the summer from one drummed up for clicks.
Hartwall Original Long Drink – Gin & Grapefruit 5.5% 330mlHartwall Original Long Drink with Gin and Grapefruit is the original Finnish “Lonkero,” combining real gin with crisp grapefruit flavour. Lightly sparkling and refreshingly bitter-sweet, it’s a go-to drink for relaxed occasions. Hartwall Original, also known as ‘Lonkero’ is a ready to drink gin, with refreshing grapefruit.
The Aperol spritz may have ushered in the concept of the “drink of the summer”; it remains the defining example, along with the less syrupy Campari spritz. Still today, the holiday hasn’t officially begun until you have a bright orange beverage in a goldfish-bowl glass in your hand. The generic lonkero (“long drink” in English) has since been dubbed the national drink of Finland. The Lonkero co-founder Joe Harris developed a taste for it while working in Helsinki, then teamed up with Gibbons to bring it to the UK.
Royal Highland Show Preview: Plum Gin from Gordon Castle
The original Kyrö Long Drink brings together the distinct tastes of rye gin, mildly bubbly fresh cranberry juice and rosemary. The Beloved Finnish “Lonkero” Drink Was Invented for the Helsinki Olympics in 1952. The original intention for Lonkero was as an Olympics-exclusive, but the Finns ended up falling in love with the combination of gin and grapefruit juice. Today, Lonkero holds the status of a national drink, and various flavours of Lonkero are available.
Original Long Drink Cassis -lanseeraus
When I finally got around to trying Lonkero, I was immediately converted – and, judging by the pint glasses containing telltale grapefruit wedges on all the tables surrounding me, most of Norwich had been, too. We’re fans of this Finnish Long Drink with cranberry juice for extra tartness. Finland’s signature long drink, known as Lonkero, has been named the “drink of the summer” by British newspaper The Guardian, after gaining traction in UK pubs, especially in the city of Norwich.
Lonkero is a long, pint-sized splash of citrusy, zesty, refreshing perfection, straight from Finland. It is a crisp & zingy drink combining gin, grapefruit, soda, lime, pine & botanicals. The version sold in the UK mirrors the classic Finnish recipe, a slightly sweet, citrus-infused drink with a gin base.
Lonkero
To mark the occasion, the host nation came up with a premixed beverage of gin and grapefruit soda; it proved such a hit, with locals as well as visitors, it stuck. The recognition comes as Lonkero begins appearing on draught in select venues in Britain, where it is served by the pint. The drink, typically a mix of gin and grapefruit soda, was first created for the 1952 Helsinki Olympics to help bars serve large numbers of visitors quickly. The original mixed gin beverages were only sold at Alko due to higher alcohol content (5.5% alc/vol) and the fact that only Alko was allowed to sell non-fermented alcohol until 2018 when the alcohol legislation was changed. Until Finland joined the European Union in 1995, the production of long drink was strictly controlled by the government. After joining the EU the government was no longer allowed to control the production, and this led to the birth of several long drink brands by different companies.
- His experience led him to co-launch the brand in the UK alongside Paige Gibbons, who said the drink has been performing “surprisingly well” in Norwich.
- If you are unwilling to be parted from Aperol, a naked and famous might be your next favourite order.
- At this rate, we might wind up with a pub for every day of the year and a Lonkero pub for every Sunday.
- Unfortunately, this high-season, low-stakes tradition has been tested over the past decade by our heavily saturated yet highly atomised consumer culture.
- Hartwall Original Long Drink – Gin & Grapefruit 5.5% 330mlHartwall Original Long Drink with Gin and Grapefruit is the original Finnish “Lonkero,” combining real gin with crisp grapefruit flavour.
In addition to Norwich, Lonkero is also sold in pubs in London, Edinburgh, Brighton and several other British cities. Joe Harris, co-founder of the company, became familiar with the drink while working in Helsinki. His experience led him to co-launch the brand in the UK alongside Paige Gibbons, who said the drink has been performing “surprisingly well” in Norwich.
These are drinks which are served in a tall glass and are usually spirits such as vodka and gin mixed with soft drinks, usually grapefruit soda. Lonkero is very definitely not a beer, but a brand of Finnish Long Drink, which is a blend of gin, grapefruit and soda water first created to keep international visitors refreshed at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. But very much like a beer or cider, at 4.7% ABV, it’s best enjoyed in icy pints or ice cold cans. In the capital, Lonkero is currently on draught at Summerhall, Teuchters Landing and Edinburgh Street Food, and is available in off-licences in six- and twelve-packs.
At the time of Stylist’s report, it was already being offered at many trendy London joints, but has the added advantage of being easy to whip up off-menu. You should have never even heard of this beverage before the temperature hits 20C, then you shouldn’t be able to imagine life without it. You might return to it years later, and even enjoy it – but it should never hit quite the same way as it did that first summer it was everywhere. Described as a “full-frontal Finnish experience,” it is aimed at festival goers, summer garden parties and those who fancy a refreshing change from the norm. Finland once had prohibition which was relaxed in 1932 with the creation of state company called Alko, where you could buy alcohol.
Some experimented with using lemon, orange or other flavors instead of grapefruit. Others started manufacturing mild long drinks based on fermentation rather than on adding spirits. The same composition can be achieved by diluting a 10% cider into 5% with water and gin and grapefruit flavors, and the 5.5% product can be sold in grocery stores. The 2000s saw the reintroduction of the brandy long drink, now manufactured by Laitilan Wirvoitusjuomatehdas. For Gibbons, not a fan of beer or cider, Lonkero held instant appeal as an easy-drinking beverage served in pints. “I always used to joke that I was fed up with paying double the price for a drink that I’d finish sooner,” she says.
Originally, the term “long drink” referred to a diluted, extended alcoholic beverage mixed in a glass. In Finland, a long drink – affectionately known as “lonkero” – has since become the name for a gin-based drink. The intention was for lonkero to be sold only during the summer Olympics, but Finns fell in love with the combination of gin and grapefruit juice. Today, lonkero holds the status of a national drink, and various flavours of lonkero are available.
