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Traditional sima, Finnish mead

Traditional sima, Finnish mead

Drinks

The Finnish May Day drink: a lightly fermented, sweetened lemon water, bottled with grapes that indicate when it’s ready to drink.

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Recipe from Olli, Sankarip, Anssi and 10 other contributors, adapted by Recette de cuisine · · updated on

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Sima is a traditional Finnish drink, typically alcoholic and fizzy, made from water, sugar, syrup, and lemon. This recipe will allow you to prepare approximately 9 liters of sima.

Ingredients and directions

  • Prep time20 min
  • Cook time10 min
  • Resting72 hr
  • Total72 hr 30 min
  • DifficultyMedium
  • CostBudget
  • Cooking methodfermentation
  • Estimated cost$6.10 $0.20 / serving Estimated price; varies by store. Converted from euros at the ECB rate of October 15, 2026.
  • Vegetarian
  • Vegan
  • Gluten-free

Ingredients

30 people
  • $0.31
  • $1.91
  • $0.16
  • $0.84
  • $2.88
  • $0.00

Prices from US supermarkets for 2 of 6 ingredients; Belgian prices for the rest.

Directions

  1. Thoroughly clean a food-grade bucket or a 10-liter saucepan. Pour in the sugar and syrup. ≈ 8 min
  2. Bring about half of the water (3 to 4 litres) to a boil, pour it into the container, and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Add the remaining water.
  3. Wash the lemons, cut them into slices, and add them to the liquid. ≈ 8 min
  4. When the liquid is lukewarm, dissolve the yeast in a small amount of warm water, then add it. Cover and let it ferment at room temperature overnight.
  5. The next day, strain the sima and pour it into bottles, adding a few grapes and a teaspoon of sugar to each. ≈ 3 min
  6. Close the jar without tightening the lid and let it sit at room temperature for 2-3 days: the sima is ready when the grapes rise to the surface. Then, store it in the refrigerator; it tastes best after a week.

The bill

Traditional sima, Finnish mead

  • 400 g of powdered sugar$0.31
  • 400 g of brown sugar$1.91
  • 200 ml of light brown sugar syrup$0.16
  • 2 to 4 lemons$0.84
  • grape$2.88
  • 1 teaspoon of sugar per bottle$0.00

Total$6.10

that's $0.20 per person

Estimated price; varies by store.

Equipment

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Before you start

Ingredients

  • 8 liters of water
  • 400 g of powdered sugar
  • 400 g of brown sugar
  • 200 ml of light brown sugar syrup
  • 2 to 4 lemons
  • 1/4 of a teaspoon of baker’s yeast
  • grape
  • 1 teaspoon of sugar per bottle

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