Something Swedish For Midsummer

One of the biggest and most important celebrations in Sweden is Midsummer when Swedes leave the city and gather around the Midsummer pole, eat herring and down a copious amount of nubbe (schnapps). What then could be better than presenting one of the very few truly Swedish cocktails, Gröna Hissen (The Green Elevator).

The history of this very Swedish drink actually started, in a very roundabout way, with an American play called “Fair and Warmer” written in 1915 by American playwright Avery Hopwood. In 1921 the play found its way to Stockholm and the title was changed to “Gröna Hissen” (“The Green Elevator”). The lead in this popular production was played by Swedish actor Gösta Ekman and since cocktails was a big part of the play it didn’t take long until a cocktail was made in honor of the play and the beloved Gösta Ekman.

In 1944 the play was adapted to the cinema where the leads were played by Sickan Carlsson and Max Hansen giving the drink an even further boost.

The drink itself is a bit gimmicky with three raisins being added just to travel up and down thanks to the carbonation in the Champis or Pommac, two brands of a very Swedish soda originating in 1910 and 1919 respectively. This type of soda was first marketed as Champagnedricka (Champagne Soda) and was introduced to be a non alcoholic but yet sophisticated substitute for Champagne even though it was a whole of a lot sweeter. The name Pommac was taken from pomme, French for apple being a main ingredient, and Cognac, supposedly added to create a fuller bodied drink.

The Pommac brand was early to adopt marketing and PR strategies. At the Jubilee Exhibition in Gothenburg 1923 the just four year old company arranged an 11 meter wide Pommac tower serving the soda to half a million visitors. During the 1940s Pommac had famous Swedish artists make Pommac ads, much the same way as Absolut Vodka did decades later. Among these artists were Isaak Grünewald, Stellan Mörner and Sven X:et Erixon.

The glass called Vogue was designed by the Swedish designer Simon Gate in 1931.