CHRISTOFFER
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I grew up with little or no self-esteem so when I first discovered alcohol it was as if everything fell into place. I no longer felt social anxiety or a sense of worthlessness, not even a little. I loved who I became when I drank. I loved the drunk version of Christoffer.
Success, anxiety and defeat intertwined and, no matter how bad I felt, alcohol would always lift my spirits.
Through the years my anxiety got worse and worse but a drink would always brighten my mood. It was the perfect medicine, but a medicine I would come to need more and more.
In the beginning it was all fun and games, a celebration, but it soon became more and more tragic and dreary.
My home, once filled with beautiful furniture, grand dinners and gatherings had turned hollow and empty.
My medicine stopped working and it became high time for me to realise that my best friend had become my worst enemy.
Thus began my journey towards sobriety and one day in September I sat down in a circle, surrounded by warm, friendly, candle lit faces. There and then, my voice trembling, I uttered those words that I had only dared say to my reflection in the mirror. “Hi, My name is Christoffer and I am an alcoholic.”
This was the beginning of a very difficult personal battle, yet one which I believed I could handle. Time passed and with it my longing for intoxication, yet I still missed the physical feeling of having a drink, that lovely burning sensation in my chest.
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So I began experimenting, trying to create a drink, a substitute, using various peppers, chilis and different kinds of herbs and spices.
When the holiday season came along and everyone drank snaps, I drank soda. Even on my birthday, Christmas day, a day so often filled with the sounds of shot glasses beating rhythmically on the bar.
But I couldn’t partake in the festivities anymore, and it made me feel like an outsider.
So I kept experimenting in my kitchen, trying to find a substitute. I wasn’t just trying to recreate that burning sensation in my chest anymore, I was also trying to find a cure to that horrible feeling of exclusion.
I wanted everyone to feel welcome and included, no matter what they poured into their glasses or their reasons.
What I didn’t know back then, but which I do now, is that I was already laying the foundation for Järn. My grandma used to always say that if you do your best and try to be good, the stars will align and you’ll find the help you all ways needed. I must have done something right because during a trip to Riksgränsen Ski Resort I ran into an incredibly wonderful older woman who was holding the missing pieces to my puzzle.
I’m eternally grateful for how everything has fallen into place with Järn and I hope that even you will be a part of our forward journey.
0% Regret
Christoffer Daal
Creator of Järn
"Whether you’re with friends while they order a round of shots, or at Christmas feast while near and dear ones pour snaps into ice cold glasses, not being included is one of the worst feelings in the world. So we created delicious non alcoholic alternatives to fill into your cup. We work from the heart and on the forefront of a societal transformation where our goal is the inclusion of everyone."
MARGARET
Evelyn worked on a tea farm in Savannah, Georgia. One day she met a sailor named John.
Evelyn wanted to marry John but her parents were against the marriage. The young couple decided to elope and ended up in Bodie during the gold rush where their daughter Margaret was born. But the hunt for gold went from bad to worse and so John began to seek comfort at the bottom of a bottle.
When their misery was too much to bare, the young Margaret ran away to New York City. After a rather dark period in the big city Margaret snuck aboard a ship docked in the harbour. Aboard the vessel she met Johan, an able-bodied seaman from Sweden, who hid her among the freightage. They fell in love during their journey across the Atlantic, a love that grew stronger everyday. The young enamoured couple arrived in Gothenburg, working on various island communities along the west coast of Sweden, until they continued their journey inland. Although their pursuit of happiness eventually brought them to the capital, in the end they decided to go back to Johan’s roots in the north of Sweden.
Back in his hometown Johan got work as a miner while Margaret got together with the older women in town, quickly absorbing their knowledge of local plants and berries and their various uses. Soon thereafter, the creation of beverages would become her passion.
Before long Margaret gave birth to a baby girl. Unfortunately, tragedy hit just days later, when an accident at the mine killed Johan. In need of income, Margaret tried to get work at the mine but was ridiculed and mocked. Inspired by a local children’s story, she cut off her hair and dressed up in her late husband’s clothes. The mine hired her almost immediately.
Henceforth, everyone could see Margaret working with her glass bottle, weathered to the point where you could see her finger prints etched in soot on the glass. Of course, all the miners thought she drank liquor like they did, but they were wrong. Her bottle was filled with her mother’s legacy and the awareness of her father’s downfall. It was filled with the knowledge she gained from the local wives and it was filled with nature itself.
DANIEL
Daniel began his career within the beverage industry at 20 years old, diving into the exploration of different brands at the Swedish alcohol monopoly Systembolaget. It was here that Daniel started his journey of taste and sensory experience, building a knowledge base and repertoire through practice and exposure to many local and global brands and products.
Realising his unique abilities within sensory recognition and a real curiosity for the development of flavour profiles, Daniel embarked on a new adventure of co-founding a new company, Vinfabriken. During this learning experience, Daniel started to create his own blends and entered them within the tender system of Systembolaget. After creating and winning tenders within mulled wine, Daniel started to spread his creative wings and delved into the world of spirits with success in also winning store listings for gin, rum, schnapps and finally cider. Within its first five years of operation, Vinfabriken increased turnover ten fold. The tender process within Systembolaget is very unique as products are provided national store listing purely depending upon quality – the blended entries are judged through blind tasting with no consideration of branding or marketing.
Daniel describes a turning point in his career that is etched in his mind as ‘that’ moment we perhaps all might have in our professional journeys. After years of hunting down the aroma and flavour companies and working hard on developing relationships, he distinctly remembers the moment when they called him for the first time – the tables had turned.
Umida Group acquired Vinfabriken in 2016 and Daniel brought his expertise to a larger business model, able to create products for a more global audience and market.
These days, Daniel is regarded as one of the best blenders in Europe amongst the industry with over 50 blind tast tender wins at Systembolaget.
Daniel describes his lead work as perfecting balance. In Swedish the term is ‘lagom’ , meaning ‘moderate’ or ‘just right’. When given the taste of a new product development, Daniel begins by thinking about the market and audience the product is designed for.
“Blending is very abstract work that has a lot of nuance – like an artist painting. I’m starting with a blank sheet every time and I’m able to build up products in my head first because of my experience. Depending on who I am creating for I consider the band or brand and what they embody – I use flavour blends that I’ve created over the years. The challenge could be posed in a question such as -‘How does rock taste?’ My job is to translate people’s emotions or lifestyle into taste and sensory experience “ – Daniel Henriksson.
Working within his lab in southern Sweden, Daniel builds blends within a structure of traditional chemistry matched with creative sensory flare. For product integrity, Daniel prefers to work mostly with natural flavours and Scandinavian raw materials which have a reputation in the industry for extremely high quality.
JÄRN
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We at Järn work patiently and with great care, taking our time if need be, in order to ensure a well crafted product. Most of the other companies creating nonalcoholic beverages on the market are primarily focused on creating alcoholic beverages for the market. Järn, on the other hand, is focused solely and foremost on creating the absolute best choice in the non alcoholic category.
Järn is crafted on a homestead by the same family going back seven generations. The most important ingredients being the herbs and spring water but also craft and know how. The water comes from a local spring located in the thick mountain woods high behind the distillery. It’s a natural source, flowing from deep underground, this crystal clear water forms a waterhole in the deepest part of the forest. -
There’s a rapid stream that passes the distillery supplying Järn with electricity. We also use this icy fresh mountain water as a coolant in our factory. It’s here we cook up Järn, with great care and in beautiful copper boilers, always using the finest herbs and spices, just like back in Margaret’s day, yet more controlled and more precise. We place great emphasis on high quality production which is why our manufacturing process take’s time. It just tastes better.
Q & A
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WHY
Whether you’re with friends who are ordering a round of shots, or siting at a Christmas feast while near and dear ones pour snaps into ice cold glasses, not being included is one of the worst feelings in the world. So we created delicious non alcoholic alternatives to fill into your cup.
There are thousands of reasons not to drink alcohol and everyone must decide for themselves if they want a drink or not. But rituals and traditions still exist. By creating delicious alternatives we work to include everyone.
We place high standards on ourselves in a market that’s mostly run by companies focused foremost on alcoholic beverages. We feel that this is an important issue that should be brought up in the media. We would like to do this in a positive and progressive manner without pointing any fingers.
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WHAT
We work from the heart and on the forefront of a societal transformation where our goal is the inclusion of everyone.
We create top of the line non alcoholic spirits and drink alternatives.
Collaborating with prize winning drink mixers and passionate enthusiasts, profits will also flow over into our non profit foundation Järnviljan. (Iron Will)
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HOW
Järn is manufactured in Sweden with a very interesting back story. We raise the bar on nonalcoholic products since, unlike the other brands on the market, this is our sole focus.
