Warning: you should have some sparkling water and juice or Fanta and cola ready when watching this lol This is a fascinating deep dive as someone who actually occasionally drinks this. I kinda...
Warning: you should have some sparkling water and juice or Fanta and cola ready when watching this lol
This is a fascinating deep dive as someone who actually occasionally drinks this. I kinda also thought Paulaner was kind of the “default”
I’ve also noticed that Spezi has been appearing more and more in different versions in the supermarkets.
I had to stop buying this because I basically stopped drinking water at home, lol. Still the best version of Spezi out there, and I've tried a lot of them
I had to stop buying this because I basically stopped drinking water at home, lol.
Still the best version of Spezi out there, and I've tried a lot of them
Interesting. I don't think I have ever had Spezi or Paulaner Spezi, but for as long as I can remember, I have been mixing cola and orange soft drinks. Not that I drink a lot of soft drinks, but...
Interesting. I don't think I have ever had Spezi or Paulaner Spezi, but for as long as I can remember, I have been mixing cola and orange soft drinks. Not that I drink a lot of soft drinks, but when I do, that's what I want to drink.
I was excited when I discovered that I can actually buy something called "Schwip Schwap" in syrup form and make it with my soda machine. I didn't need to mix it manually any more. Now I see that Schwip Schwap is pretty much PepsiCo's Spezi.
Pro-tip: add a dash of apple cider vinegar or a similar milder vinegar into yours. It makes it even better.
I miss that back in the 1980s and 90s, every country still seemed to have its own local soft drinks. Nowadays, it's just the same boring Coca Cola and Pepsi products almost everywhere.
There are exceptions, of course. I was in Malta some years back and got really hooked on Kinnie. Another highlight discovery in recent years has been Cockta in Slovenia. And Irn-Bru in Scotland. Oh, and the Greek Epsa.
Come to think of it, I seem to know far too much about soft drinks for someone who started this comment by saying that they don't really drink soft drinks.
Czechia has Kofola, which is quite successful and imo pretty good, do try it if you get the chance. Around some parts of the country Zon lemonades are kind of popular - they are less special, but...
Czechia has Kofola, which is quite successful and imo pretty good, do try it if you get the chance. Around some parts of the country Zon lemonades are kind of popular - they are less special, but they basically represent what soft drinks used to be like here before Coca Cola and Pepsi, and they're cheap. Especially the raspberry one, a generic version of that synthetic flavor raspberry soda used to be ubiquitous in restaurants, these days it's less common and you mostly get Kofola or flavored non-alcoholic beer instead.
Austrian Almdudler is pretty good, though it has been more than a decade since I last tried it.
And perhaps italian San Pellegrino, if it counts. It's basically sparkling mineral water flavored with real citrus juice. I don't like the most famous tangerine one, but the orange one is truly excellent - I'm not really a fan of sweet stuff either, but this I could drink all the time if it wasn't kind of expensive here.
Oh, and maybe Mate flavored soft drinks? They tend to have a lot of caffeine, so it's not really soda for kids, but I like them specifically because they taste kind of bitter. I think the most popular ones are made in Germany, and there's more than just Club Mate.
I do like Kofola! We actually sometimes find it in stores also here in Hungary. A couple of weeks ago, the local Lidl had a stack of them so I picked a bottle, only to be informed by the cashier...
I do like Kofola! We actually sometimes find it in stores also here in Hungary. A couple of weeks ago, the local Lidl had a stack of them so I picked a bottle, only to be informed by the cashier that they will only start selling it the day after. Which felt bizarre to my Nordic brain (why do you have items in the store floor that you are not actually selling?). The next time I visited, all bottles had been sold. So no Kofola for me this summer, it seems.
We also have Almdudler and San Pellegrinos here. It's nice that shops at least carry some variety, even if restaurants pretty much only have products from the two major global manufacturers.
I don't believe I've come across mate flavoured soft drinks, though. I'll need to keep an eye out! I do like mate, and I love cold tea (not the sugary "ice tea" drink, but just chilled green tea -- slightly carbonated also works well). I wonder if I could actually put some mate into a homemade kombucha for flavour. Will have to try!
It's annoying for the customer, but it means the staff doesn't have to stack a bunch of bottles after closing hours. Sometimes deals with suppliers start from a specific date specified in a...
It's annoying for the customer, but it means the staff doesn't have to stack a bunch of bottles after closing hours. Sometimes deals with suppliers start from a specific date specified in a contract.
Though my Dutch brain also thinks it should've just been priced before putting it out. So I understand the reasoning but I don't agree with the practice either.
Switzerland has Rivella (milk whey soft drink; it tastes better than it looks). France has Orangina ( orange soda with pulp)? I think it's pretty common?
Switzerland has Rivella (milk whey soft drink; it tastes better than it looks). France has Orangina ( orange soda with pulp)? I think it's pretty common?
The Coca-Cola museum in Atlanta is a fun experience, and I don't even like colas. At the end, they have a selection of drinks they sell all around the world. My favorites were the French ones,...
The Coca-Cola museum in Atlanta is a fun experience, and I don't even like colas. At the end, they have a selection of drinks they sell all around the world. My favorites were the French ones, they were a lot less sweet than I'm used to.
Recently, while researching a brand’s origins/parent (Zwo) I’ve stumbled upon a website fully dedicated to testing/rating “cola mix”es. Behold: https://colaorange.de
Recently, while researching a brand’s origins/parent (Zwo) I’ve stumbled upon a website fully dedicated to testing/rating “cola mix”es. Behold: https://colaorange.de
Something I have always found difficult to understand about these cola-orange mix drinks, is how they don't seem to have spread to English-speaking countries as much. This is in spite of the huge...
Something I have always found difficult to understand about these cola-orange mix drinks, is how they don't seem to have spread to English-speaking countries as much. This is in spite of the huge number of Cola/Pepsi [flavour here] drinks we've had.
In my city in the UK I can go into either a major Supermarket chain's shop, an international-style shop, or any specific [country here] shop and find soft drinks from a huge number of countries. Any brand or variation of Spezi, however, is almost impossible to find here. The only luck I have had is on some large red drink fountains where they are dispensed in Five Guys, which I presume are made in or standardised for Germany as the drink options tend to be the same.
Every time I visit Germany, the first thing I do after passing security is buy a Spezi - no matter where, which, or what price. There are many good soft drink options available in Germany which aren't as common to find in the UK (Club-Mate, any Apfelschorle, Almdudler [Austrian], hell even KiBa-Saft), but nothing compares to the Kulturgut which is Spezi.
There is one place in the Netherlands that sells Club Mate and I'm so happy. It's such a good summer alternative to coffee. The only German drink that crossed the border in any significant...
There is one place in the Netherlands that sells Club Mate and I'm so happy. It's such a good summer alternative to coffee.
The only German drink that crossed the border in any significant quantity is Fritz Cola (though my favourite rabarberschörle is still somewhat rare).
Point being is that most German drinks are unable to even penetrate the Dutch market. Spezi doesn't exist.
And yet Germany (in general) doesn't have Cherry Coke, doesn't have Sprite Zero despite Coke Zero seeming to be their most popular soda, etc. The soda market in Germany is just weird.
And yet Germany (in general) doesn't have Cherry Coke, doesn't have Sprite Zero despite Coke Zero seeming to be their most popular soda, etc. The soda market in Germany is just weird.
Absolutely. You may notice the difference when you drink one by itself, but if you drink it with a meal, it tastes almost identical to the original. The other problem in Germany, though, is that...
Absolutely. You may notice the difference when you drink one by itself, but if you drink it with a meal, it tastes almost identical to the original. The other problem in Germany, though, is that the Sprite (and I assume European Sprite in general) isn't as "bright" tasting. At first I thought it didn't have as much sugar, but the calories are the same. I think maybe they put more citric acid in or something? I think they try to make it taste more natural, which ends up giving it a dry taste instead of the glorious flavor it's supposed to have :(
European Sprite has gone through multiple formula changes in the past 15 years and it seems like manufacturers in different parts of the continent use slightly different recipes. Also, if you are...
The other problem in Germany, though, is that the Sprite (and I assume European Sprite in general) isn't as "bright" tasting.
European Sprite has gone through multiple formula changes in the past 15 years and it seems like manufacturers in different parts of the continent use slightly different recipes.
Also, if you are comparing the taste of non-sugar-free European soft drinks with their American counterparts, I believe there is a major difference in the sweetener used: the majority of American drinks use corn syrup, while hardly any do in Europe, and even when they do, it's a mixture of maize and wheat, rather than purely corn based as in the US.
It's also noteworthy that many European sugar-free beverages contain cyclamate, an artificial sweetener that has been banned in the US, so that may affect taste as well.
It's also noteworthy that many European sugar-free beverages contain cyclamate, an artificial sweetener that has been banned in the US, so that may affect taste as well.
I feel like I had cherry coke relatively often when I lived in Germany? At least until I switched to Pepsi Max bc it was 25 cents cheaper at my local Getränkemarkt. I miss lemon Coke from Germany,...
I feel like I had cherry coke relatively often when I lived in Germany? At least until I switched to Pepsi Max bc it was 25 cents cheaper at my local Getränkemarkt.
I miss lemon Coke from Germany, but I was never a big fan of Spezi.
Sure, but that's at a Getränkemarkt. Standard grocery stores have a smaller selection, so if you aren't buying hundreds of bottles at a time, that doesn't really help. And restaurants seem to...
Sure, but that's at a Getränkemarkt. Standard grocery stores have a smaller selection, so if you aren't buying hundreds of bottles at a time, that doesn't really help. And restaurants seem to never have anything beyond the four sodas, plus whatever Schorles they offer. And now I'm mad about all the restaurants where the cheapest drinks are 200 mL bottles of soda for €3.50. I think I even once went somewhere that sold them for €5. As if every other restaurant in the world doesn't also have larger profit margins on drinks than food.
Honestly my local Rewe tended to have a wider variety than the Getränkemarkt I lived near, but it was pretty bougie (it had a mochi bar). Normal cheaper grocery stores tended to have pretty...
Honestly my local Rewe tended to have a wider variety than the Getränkemarkt I lived near, but it was pretty bougie (it had a mochi bar). Normal cheaper grocery stores tended to have pretty limited selection, you're right.
I went and checked Amazon to see if I could buy this in the rural US and I can but it's rather expensive, 12 or 24 cans for $30 or $50 respectively. For reference 24 cans of coca-cola is about...
I went and checked Amazon to see if I could buy this in the rural US and I can but it's rather expensive, 12 or 24 cans for $30 or $50 respectively. For reference 24 cans of coca-cola is about $15, so we're talking 3x at least. It's also called Paulaner Sunset rather than Spezi but otherwise the cans look identical. And at the top of the page is an ad telling me "Sunset" is the original German recipe now being marketed in the US.
I probably won't buy it at that price, but I am certainly intrigued.
Warning: you should have some sparkling water and juice or Fanta and cola ready when watching this lol
This is a fascinating deep dive as someone who actually occasionally drinks this. I kinda also thought Paulaner was kind of the “default”
I’ve also noticed that Spezi has been appearing more and more in different versions in the supermarkets.
I had to stop buying this because I basically stopped drinking water at home, lol.
Still the best version of Spezi out there, and I've tried a lot of them
Interesting. I don't think I have ever had Spezi or Paulaner Spezi, but for as long as I can remember, I have been mixing cola and orange soft drinks. Not that I drink a lot of soft drinks, but when I do, that's what I want to drink.
I was excited when I discovered that I can actually buy something called "Schwip Schwap" in syrup form and make it with my soda machine. I didn't need to mix it manually any more. Now I see that Schwip Schwap is pretty much PepsiCo's Spezi.
Pro-tip: add a dash of apple cider vinegar or a similar milder vinegar into yours. It makes it even better.
I miss that back in the 1980s and 90s, every country still seemed to have its own local soft drinks. Nowadays, it's just the same boring Coca Cola and Pepsi products almost everywhere.
There are exceptions, of course. I was in Malta some years back and got really hooked on Kinnie. Another highlight discovery in recent years has been Cockta in Slovenia. And Irn-Bru in Scotland. Oh, and the Greek Epsa.
Come to think of it, I seem to know far too much about soft drinks for someone who started this comment by saying that they don't really drink soft drinks.
Czechia has Kofola, which is quite successful and imo pretty good, do try it if you get the chance. Around some parts of the country Zon lemonades are kind of popular - they are less special, but they basically represent what soft drinks used to be like here before Coca Cola and Pepsi, and they're cheap. Especially the raspberry one, a generic version of that synthetic flavor raspberry soda used to be ubiquitous in restaurants, these days it's less common and you mostly get Kofola or flavored non-alcoholic beer instead.
Austrian Almdudler is pretty good, though it has been more than a decade since I last tried it.
And perhaps italian San Pellegrino, if it counts. It's basically sparkling mineral water flavored with real citrus juice. I don't like the most famous tangerine one, but the orange one is truly excellent - I'm not really a fan of sweet stuff either, but this I could drink all the time if it wasn't kind of expensive here.
Oh, and maybe Mate flavored soft drinks? They tend to have a lot of caffeine, so it's not really soda for kids, but I like them specifically because they taste kind of bitter. I think the most popular ones are made in Germany, and there's more than just Club Mate.
I do like Kofola! We actually sometimes find it in stores also here in Hungary. A couple of weeks ago, the local Lidl had a stack of them so I picked a bottle, only to be informed by the cashier that they will only start selling it the day after. Which felt bizarre to my Nordic brain (why do you have items in the store floor that you are not actually selling?). The next time I visited, all bottles had been sold. So no Kofola for me this summer, it seems.
We also have Almdudler and San Pellegrinos here. It's nice that shops at least carry some variety, even if restaurants pretty much only have products from the two major global manufacturers.
I don't believe I've come across mate flavoured soft drinks, though. I'll need to keep an eye out! I do like mate, and I love cold tea (not the sugary "ice tea" drink, but just chilled green tea -- slightly carbonated also works well). I wonder if I could actually put some mate into a homemade kombucha for flavour. Will have to try!
It's annoying for the customer, but it means the staff doesn't have to stack a bunch of bottles after closing hours. Sometimes deals with suppliers start from a specific date specified in a contract.
Though my Dutch brain also thinks it should've just been priced before putting it out. So I understand the reasoning but I don't agree with the practice either.
Switzerland has Rivella (milk whey soft drink; it tastes better than it looks). France has Orangina ( orange soda with pulp)? I think it's pretty common?
The Coca-Cola museum in Atlanta is a fun experience, and I don't even like colas. At the end, they have a selection of drinks they sell all around the world. My favorites were the French ones, they were a lot less sweet than I'm used to.
Recently, while researching a brand’s origins/parent (Zwo) I’ve stumbled upon a website fully dedicated to testing/rating “cola mix”es. Behold: https://colaorange.de
Something I have always found difficult to understand about these cola-orange mix drinks, is how they don't seem to have spread to English-speaking countries as much. This is in spite of the huge number of Cola/Pepsi [flavour here] drinks we've had.
In my city in the UK I can go into either a major Supermarket chain's shop, an international-style shop, or any specific [country here] shop and find soft drinks from a huge number of countries. Any brand or variation of Spezi, however, is almost impossible to find here. The only luck I have had is on some large red drink fountains where they are dispensed in Five Guys, which I presume are made in or standardised for Germany as the drink options tend to be the same.
Every time I visit Germany, the first thing I do after passing security is buy a Spezi - no matter where, which, or what price. There are many good soft drink options available in Germany which aren't as common to find in the UK (Club-Mate, any Apfelschorle, Almdudler [Austrian], hell even KiBa-Saft), but nothing compares to the Kulturgut which is Spezi.
There is one place in the Netherlands that sells Club Mate and I'm so happy. It's such a good summer alternative to coffee.
The only German drink that crossed the border in any significant quantity is Fritz Cola (though my favourite rabarberschörle is still somewhat rare).
Point being is that most German drinks are unable to even penetrate the Dutch market. Spezi doesn't exist.
And yet Germany (in general) doesn't have Cherry Coke, doesn't have Sprite Zero despite Coke Zero seeming to be their most popular soda, etc. The soda market in Germany is just weird.
Sprite Zero is just so darn good too, it's one of the closest zero-to-original matches I've had.
Absolutely. You may notice the difference when you drink one by itself, but if you drink it with a meal, it tastes almost identical to the original. The other problem in Germany, though, is that the Sprite (and I assume European Sprite in general) isn't as "bright" tasting. At first I thought it didn't have as much sugar, but the calories are the same. I think maybe they put more citric acid in or something? I think they try to make it taste more natural, which ends up giving it a dry taste instead of the glorious flavor it's supposed to have :(
European Sprite has gone through multiple formula changes in the past 15 years and it seems like manufacturers in different parts of the continent use slightly different recipes.
Also, if you are comparing the taste of non-sugar-free European soft drinks with their American counterparts, I believe there is a major difference in the sweetener used: the majority of American drinks use corn syrup, while hardly any do in Europe, and even when they do, it's a mixture of maize and wheat, rather than purely corn based as in the US.
It's also noteworthy that many European sugar-free beverages contain cyclamate, an artificial sweetener that has been banned in the US, so that may affect taste as well.
I feel like I had cherry coke relatively often when I lived in Germany? At least until I switched to Pepsi Max bc it was 25 cents cheaper at my local Getränkemarkt.
I miss lemon Coke from Germany, but I was never a big fan of Spezi.
Sure, but that's at a Getränkemarkt. Standard grocery stores have a smaller selection, so if you aren't buying hundreds of bottles at a time, that doesn't really help. And restaurants seem to never have anything beyond the four sodas, plus whatever Schorles they offer. And now I'm mad about all the restaurants where the cheapest drinks are 200 mL bottles of soda for €3.50. I think I even once went somewhere that sold them for €5. As if every other restaurant in the world doesn't also have larger profit margins on drinks than food.
Honestly my local Rewe tended to have a wider variety than the Getränkemarkt I lived near, but it was pretty bougie (it had a mochi bar). Normal cheaper grocery stores tended to have pretty limited selection, you're right.
I went and checked Amazon to see if I could buy this in the rural US and I can but it's rather expensive, 12 or 24 cans for $30 or $50 respectively. For reference 24 cans of coca-cola is about $15, so we're talking 3x at least. It's also called Paulaner Sunset rather than Spezi but otherwise the cans look identical. And at the top of the page is an ad telling me "Sunset" is the original German recipe now being marketed in the US.
I probably won't buy it at that price, but I am certainly intrigued.