Indulgences

1. salmiakki

   Salmiakki — salty liquorice sweet

   Usage

   ⚠ A famously strong taste for first-timers: liquorice flavoured with ammonium chloride ("salmiakki"), simultaneously sweet and salty. The black colour comes from medicinal charcoal. Barely sold outside the Nordics, northern Germany and the Netherlands, so it splits opinion sharply as a souvenir. ⚠ It contains a lot of liquorice, which can affect blood pressure in quantity — start small

   Grammar Note

   The same word names both the chemical (ammonium chloride) and the sweet

2. lakritsi

   Liquorice sweet

   Usage

   Black sweets flavoured with liquorice root. Not the same as "salmiakki": without the ammonium chloride there is no salty bite, so it is simply sweet. The gentler place to start if salmiakki is too much. Sold in every supermarket, kiosk and souvenir shop

3. irtokarkit

   Pick-and-mix sweets sold by weight

   Usage

   The scoop-your-own wall in supermarkets, kiosks and sweet shops: fill a bag and pay by weight at the till. ⚠ Everything on the wall costs the same per kilo, so the expensive sweets are the bargain. The best way to try salmiakki and liquorice one piece at a time

   Grammar Note

   Nominative plural; the singular is "irtokarkki". The synonyms "irtomakeiset" and "irtokaramellit" appear on signs just as often

4. Fazerin Sininen

   Fazer Blue — milk chocolate bar

   Usage

   The milk chocolate in the blue wrapper — Finland's best-selling confectionery, and voted the country's most respected brand nine years running in the Markkinointi & Mainonta / Taloustutkimus survey (as of 2017). Sold as a bar, a stick and as loose pieces. The safe souvenir choice

   Grammar Note

   A product name: "Fazerin" is the genitive of the company name Fazer, "Sininen" means blue. In speech people simply say "Fazerin sininen"

5. Alko

   Alko — the state alcohol monopoly shop

   Usage

   ⚠ Stronger drink is sold here and nowhere else. Alko is the state-owned monopoly for retailing fermented drinks above 8% and any drink containing distilled alcohol above 5.5% (small-brewery beers and farm wines made from non-grape fruit and berries are exceptions). Supermarkets carry only what falls below those limits. ⚠ Opening hours are far shorter than a supermarket's and vary by branch: a July 2026 change lets Alko open 9-21 every day of the year, but each shop sets its own hours, so check first. Founded in 1932 when prohibition ended

   Grammar Note

   ⚠ Two age limits: mild drinks ("miedot alkoholijuomat") are not sold to under-18s and strong drinks ("väkevät alkoholijuomat") not to under-20s. ID is checked often, so carry your passport

6. Koskenkorva

   Koskenkorva — Finnish grain spirit

   Usage

   Finland's best-known spirit brand, made by Anora Group; the full name is "Koskenkorva Viina". ⚠ A strong spirit, so it is sold only at Alko. In speech everyone calls it "kossu", and you will hear the nickname more often than the full name

   Grammar Note

   A proper name; the common noun for a clear spirit is "viina". It comes from the place name Koskenkorva, a village in Ilmajoki

7. salmiakkikossu

   Salmiakki liqueur

   Usage

   ⚠ The salmiakki hides the alcohol almost completely, which is exactly why it is easy to overdo. Made by dissolving salmiakki in hand-warm Koskenkorva or a similar clear spirit. It began as a homemade drink and became popular enough that Alko launched its own Salmiakki Koskenkorva just before the end of 1993. Strongly associated with Finnish student and youth culture

   Grammar Note

   A colloquial clipping; the full form is "salmiakkikoskenkorva" and the slangier one is "salmari"

8. savuke

   Cigarette

   Usage

   ⚠ The Finnish Tobacco Act ("tupakkalaki") bans smoking in public indoor spaces, sale or supply to under-18s, tobacco advertising, and the display of tobacco products at the point of sale. That is why cigarettes are behind closed cabinet doors and you must ask the cashier for them by name. ⚠ Restaurants, bars and station concourses are smoke-free indoors; look for the marked outdoor smoking area

   Grammar Note

   "savuke" is the formal word; in speech "tupakka" (tobacco) is used for the same thing, and a hand-rolled one is a "sätkä"

9. nuuska

   Snus — moist tobacco placed under the lip

   Usage

   ⚠ Selling snus is illegal in Finland: it was banned on EU accession in 1995 (Åland had until 2006). Sweden is the only EU country with an exemption to make and sell it. Travellers cannot buy it in shops, and there are quantity limits on bringing it in. ⚠ The rules have changed repeatedly in recent years, so check the current guidance from Tulli (Finnish Customs) before travelling with it. 3.0% of Finns aged 20-74 use it daily

10. nikotiinipussi

    Nicotine pouch — tobacco-free

    Usage

    Pre-portioned pouches containing nicotine but no tobacco leaf, dust or stem — also called "valkonuuska", white snus. ⚠ Importing them is restricted: 2026 rules cap what a traveller may bring in (1,000 grams) and prohibit ordering them from abroad. What you carry must be for your own use, and under-18s may not bring any. ⚠ The rules are in flux, so check the current guidance from Tulli (Finnish Customs)

11. sähkötupakka

    E-cigarette / vape

    Usage

    A device that vaporises nicotine liquid rather than burning tobacco, so it contains no tobacco leaf. ⚠ The Finnish Tobacco Act covers e-cigarettes too, and in most indoor spaces they are treated exactly like cigarettes. Check whether the place allows it

    Grammar Note

    "sähkösavuke" and "e-savuke" are synonyms; colloquially people also say the English-derived "vape"

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