Once used to waterproof boats, this smoky plant byproduct is now used to flavour everything from schnapps to bread in Finland. But how does pine tar taste?

I’d say if anything tar is becoming less popular. When I was a child there were more sweets and things with tar and you had more people using it to preserve wood and hemp rope. These days people seem to prefer the petrochemical based wood preservatives instead. I miss the smell

This sounds like one of those products where the "artisanal" version should be avoided. Pine tar is basically a product of wood combustion and as such contains some nasty chemicals (phenol, benzene, polyaromatic hydrocarbons, etc.) that get refined out in the commercial pharmaceutical/flavoring versions.

But I love pine needle tea and retsina, so I'd be game to try terva.

What do you expect from the land that (possibly) brought us salmiakki? Which, as far as I can tell, also had its origins in 1930s pharmacies, just like terva.

I do quite enjoy salmiakki and am planning a trip to Finland in winter 2028 so I might seek out some terva - sounds like a unique experience!