So, in case you're wondering, Europeans like alcohol.
They like alcohol A LOT.
Here are some of the drinks I've tried.
Champagne:
My first day in Europe, I spent the night at my great aunt Lucile's house (my great aunt is pretty awesome. More on her and my adventures in France later). My great aunt lives near a city called Reims. Reims is in the heart of the champagne region of France.
I arrived at the airport in Paris at around 6:30 AM. My aunt picked me up at 8:00 AM (ish). We got back to her house at about 10:00 AM.
She then promptly asked me if it was too early for champagne.
Aunt Lucile gets her champagne home-brewed from one of her neighbors. There's also a beautiful little vineyard across the street from her house, but that neighbor only makes champagne for himself. The point is--the heart of the champagne regions really IS the heart of the champagne region. Everyone makes his or her or their own.
And oh man...homemade champagne...
In the US, champagne often has a bitter aftertaste and if you drink more than a few glasses, the sulfites alone give you a headache the likes of which you won't forget. Real french champagne has none of that. It's fluffy and pale and light and just mildly sweet, almost like water.
At my aunt's house, we really did drink champagne like water (two bottles in one day). What can I say--the coffee maker was broken. :)
Wine:
In Switzerland, it's the wine that flows freely. Switzerland has the third highest wine-consumption rate per capita of any country in the world. They have vast fields of vineyards, but only two percent of the wine made is exported. And, like everything else made in Switzerland, the wine is pretty good. It's very mild and a little bit sweet.
Normally, I think the red is better than the white. However, I know very little about wine, so I'm not sure I can make any educated claim.
This last weekend, the international students took a trip to Murten, a medieval town near the French border. Apparently, Murten is famous for production of high-quality wine. At midday, the international students were taken to a restaurant for a welcome apero (Aperos are a kind of party which is very popular here. You stand around and talk and eat fancy hors d'oeuvres, including delicacies like goat cheese crusted with hazelnut, which is delicious). At the apero they served us wine (the kind of wine that college student's can't normally afford, I think).
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| food at the Apero |
Beer:
There is, of course, also Swiss beer. The house brews I've tried at local restaurants or pubs have been pretty good. They have a very gentle flavor (unlike many American beers, which either have no flavor or so much flavor that you have to scrape your tongue between sips). I like the dark brews better than the light stuff. So far, Eggerbier has been my favorite.
In America and in Europe, there are beers so atrocious that only broke college students with standards poorer than most third world countries are willing to drink them. I am of the opinion that Feldschlössen is one of these beers. Drinking Feldschlössen is a little like drinking carbonated sadness. If it does actually contain any alcohol whatsoever, Feldschlössen doesn't show it and the drinker doesn't feel it.
If you come to Switzerland, do yourself a favor: drink something else.
Other alcohols:
Swiss hot chocolate liqueur:
As I've mentioned before, everything but the train station shuts down at 17:00 on Saturday night in this city. If you are a group of broke international students looking for a cafe on a cold winter's night, this can be rather inconvenient.
One Saturday night, after a day of shopping, my group of broke international students was placed in this situation. It was a frosty, windy night and after a half an hour of wandering the streets in search for a cup of coffee even the Finnish people were complaining of being cold. Because of this, we eventually gave up the cafe hunt in search for the nearest pub humanly possible.
When we finally all managed to stagger our numerous selves into the seats at the first bar we deemed decent, we were all desperate for anything warm. Thus, we were delighted to notice Swiss hot chocolate on the alcoholic beverage menu.
We ordered nine, one for each of us. This is what we got (I apologize for the blur):
It was a warm, sweet hot chocolate drink with just a hint of a chocolate (almost Tootsie Roll) flavored liquor. Not really alcoholic--but the perfect end to a cold Winter's night.
Absinthe:
A similar adventure occurred on one of my first nights here. My father and I set out in search of a creperie. Unfortunately, we set out in the wrong direction and in the middle of a snowstorm. It took us an hour to reach a restaurant which had been perhaps ten minutes away from our hotel. When we arrived, frosty and crusted with ice, we were ready for a culinary adventure. Absinthe was listed on the menu. Neither of us had ever tried it.
We split a glass.
When the drink arrived, I think we were both thoroughly confused. Our waiter brought out a tray with our beverage. On the tray was:
- one small pitcher of water
- one bowl of ice
- one empty glass
- one shot of clear liquid
- one small metal spade
- two sugar cubes
- one spoon
- one matchbox
First, the waiter placed the metal spade over the empty glass. He placed the sugar cubes on top and carefully poured about a third of the shot over them. He then struck a match and set the sugar cubes on fire. All the while, we watched with our fellow diners in awe.
The waiter let the sugar cubes burn for a minute ("to let the sugar caramelize," he explained). He then doused them with a shot of water and dumped them in the glass. The rest of the shot was added, along with a little more water and two ice cubes. Our waiter then stirred the drink, and we gawked as the mixture turned the palest shade of milky blue-green.
After that, our drink was ready to...well, drink.
The absinth we ordered had an 80% alcohol percentage--however, with sugar, water, and ice added, it really didn't have much of a burn. On the contrary, our absinthe had a cool, light flavor, with just a hint of sweet licorice. It was, overall, quite pleasant.
Other other drinks:
Not everything I drink here is alcoholic. I make coffee in my stove top percolator (no automatic coffee machines--and I was excited to find the percolator because I spent my first week boiling coffee grounds in a pot!) pretty much every morning. When I can afford it, I'll take an espresso or macchiato from the school cafeteria (my first Sunday I had a tiramisu macchiato which was really quite excellent).
In my lodging house I go through a liter of milk every other day (the milk tastes like melted ice cream, and hey, as a vegetarian, I need to keep my protein levels up, right?)
And even the tap water is delicious. :)
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