If beer is all that comes to your mind when you think of Germany, there’s more. There’s more to France than just Eiffel Tower and fine wine, more to America than just Donald Trump and burgers and definitely more that goes in your glass than just beer when in Germany. This blog is about to get you introduced to other drinks that one must try in Germany.
In fact, Germans have a separate shop for just drinks called Getränkemarkt, literally translates to the drinks market. Now if you visit a supermarket or a drinks market, it can get really funny or surprising to find the weirdest collection of drinks because they have a drink for every season or better yet, every occasion.
P.S. – The legal age in Germany for drinking is 16. So if you want to celebrate or your kid’s 16th birthday, you know where to go if drinking with legal age is something you’ve still waited for…
Where should I begin? You ask
If you’ve only had beers in mind about Germany till now, to begin with, Craft beers would be a great idea as it would remind you of your favorite beers and you’d still be trying something Germany is best known for. Now craft beers are not very different from beers just some ingredients change sparing the original ingredients that go into making a beer. The difference is just about the quantities of those ingredients, quality still the same. Have I made you crave for a beer yet?
FACT: If you trace the history, Christmas comes from Germany. So the celebrations are huge and so is the variety of drinks. The best place to find these drinks is their Christmas market. Here are a few you should definitely try out.
Christmas Drinks
Germany gets a whole lot interesting if you find yourself there during winters. And while you find yourself caught up surrounded by snow clad mountains, make sure to get your hands on the very traditional Christmas drink called Gluhwein or glowing wine. Usually made with cinnamon sticks, sugar, vanilla, lemons, orange slices, star anise (sweet licorice flavor) and cloves make it barely alcoholic and totally drinkable for children of all ages. However, as unpopular this drink is, so is the fact that most stalls also serve up this classic drink happily with a shot of rum for €1 extra.
When that Gluhwein doesn’t cut it anymore that’s when you head for the next traditional drink that you’ll find in the Christmas markets and that’s Gluhbier.
Mixed with a few Christmassy spices it is mixed with cherry juice to give it a dark red hue. Add their traditional beer to this combination and being served warm during any of the Christmas evenings. A warm belly with the cool breeze in the air, I don’t think your Christmas gets any better than this.
Herbal Liqueurs
What are liqueurs you ask? They are sweetened spirits whereas liquor serves as their base spirit. Liquor is sweetened with fruits, flowers and plants and additional ingredients to form liqueur.
With an astonishing array of liqueur, have a massive collection of Schnapps which is a type of herbal liqueur. The most well-known herbal liquor is Jagermeister. As weird as it sounds, it’s true. It’s the most abused drink at clubs and parties. However, that was never the intention. The focus of it was to aid digestion as these herbal liquors were made for that sole reason in the first place.
And now that Jager is off your list you might want to try these to give you an herbal kick!
Bärenjäger: Literally translates to bear-hunter. This vodka-based honey flavored liquor makes for an ultimate alternative for Jager fans.
Friesengeist: Germans usually consume herbal liqueurs after a heavy meal to aid digestion so if you’ve had a heavy meal and reading this, you should warm up your glass because that is actually how they serve this drink! And if you look at the Friesengeist bottle it suggests being best served with the drink lit on fire. Herbal liqueurs are not that boring after all.
Random fact: If you’re bored with all the mainstream tourist places here’s an idea! How about traipse village to village with a wine glass in your hand? Head to the German wine road in Mosel for some quality wine tasting. More adventure you ask? Head to Cochem a town in Mosel which holds a wine festival in August. Sounds like Germany have covered everything from traditional breweries to old wine towns.
What’s left then you ask? Well, there’s this one season Germans seem to really enjoy so much that their summers are just not warm enough and so they flee to hotter or more tropical regions like India or Bali but back in Germany, here’s how they best enjoy their summer with their popular drinks!
Summer Drinks
If popular drinks are what you want to stick with rather than traditional then it is time for a famous one called Spezi which makes for a perfect sunny day fix with its cola and orange soda mix. These would be my recommendations if you’re in Germany during the summers.
Now, this drink is you’ll find under many brand names throughout Germany but its originally called Spezi so anyone there would know what you’re talking about.
For this other popular drink, Germans normally head to Cologne but you can also find it prepackaged with the name Kölsch in most stores. What is half beer and half Coca-cola? This is a great drink if you’ve had enough drinks already while traveling in Germany or reading this blog. It’s for those who want to reduce their alcohol consumption.
Last pint, I promise!
So there it is popular drinks in Germany other than beer. There are a whole lot of drinks that you could try but these would be some you must definitely try when in Germany. My last recommendation would be to ask the person at the liquor store to describe any drink you want to try, before buying of course, because Germans don’t just know how to drink but also what to drink, very well.
Happy drinking!