Johan Freitag

Johan Freitag started life as a gin. The spirit itself is a Scandinavian-styled dry gin, named with the kind of old-world Nordic formality that suggests oak-panelled rooms and serious herbalists. That gin became the base for a range of RTD long drinks produced by Cesu Alus, Latvia's leading brewery and a subsidiary of Finland's Olvi Group. So while the brand leans hard into Scandinavian identity, the liquid is very much Baltic in origin.

The alcoholic range is a trio of canned long drinks: Gin & Tonic, Gin & Rose, and Gin & Herbs, all sitting at 5% and built on the Johan Freitag gin itself rather than a neutral base spirit. The Herbs variant is the most interesting of the three, drawing on botanical extracts including marjoram, fir needles and tarragon, which gives it a distinctly resinous, Nordic-forest quality.

The alcohol-free side of the range consists of two Ginish long drinks: Ginish & Cranberry and Ginish & Grapefruit. Both are made with a small addition of real Johan Freitag gin during production, which means they carry a faint botanical character rather than being pure soft drink imitations. Neither is zero-alcohol in the strictest sense, but both sit well below 0.5% ABV. The grapefruit variant has the sharper, drier profile; the cranberry leans sweeter.

Johan Freitag is distributed internationally through Olvi Export, which handles the group's non-Finnish portfolio. In the UK it's a relatively niche find rather than a supermarket staple, turning up in specialist importers and online retailers. It appeals most to people who want the long drink format rather than the beer format, and who appreciate that the AF product is genuinely connected to the alcoholic one rather than being a separate creation.

The Collection

Non-Alcoholic Ginish & Cranberry

Non-Alcoholic Ginish & Grapefruit