A Most Refreshing Drink --- Apple Juice Schorle

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Thanks to globalisation you can now find Coke, Pepsi & Co. even in the last oasis. If you consider this a good thing, this review won’t interest you. The drink I’d like to recommend for travels in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and South Tyrol in the North of Italy is Schorle* which comes as Apfelschorle (apple schorle) or Weinschorle (wine schorle). Apfelsaft (apple juice) is a well known drink in Germany (I won’t mention the other countries again, they’re always also included). People drink it in restaurants or at home if they cherish a non-alcoholic drink. It’s rather sweet, though, and especially in summer apple juice is often mixed with water which turns it into an Apfelschorle (also called Apfelsaftschorle = apple juice schorle). This mixture is less sweet, contains fewer calories and is more refreshing. All restaurants have it on the menu. Normally clear apple juice and carbonated water are used. It can happen that you get cloudy apple juice, though. It’s considered to be healthier because it contains fibres. Some people don’t like their drink fizzy and order Apfelschorle with still water. In my opinion still water makes the Schorle a bit insipid. The best mixture for me is clear apple juice with slightly carbonated water. You can also get Weinschorle (called Spritzer in some parts of Germany) made of white or red wine. It is refreshing. The wine gives you a little kick, but you don’t become tired because of too much alcohol. Occasionally, I drink a Weißweinschorle = white wine schorle. A drink I don’t want to get to know is Rotweinschorle (red wine schorle). The reason is that I usually drink red wine at home and like it neat. ‘Schorle white acid’ would be white wine with lemonade. Yuck, if you ask me, but who am I to tell people what tastes good or not. You can buy ready made Schorles in German supermarkets but they don’t taste as good as the ones made on the spot. In most bars and restaurants, Apfelschorle is mixed ad hoc from apple juice and carbonated water. In the south of Germany people also drink cider, the German name is Most (short ‘o‘ like in ‘top‘). Many villages have presses where the inhabitants take the apples from their gardens to. According to the amount of apples they get bottles of cider back. A friend of mine lives in such a village. She‘s told me that during the time of fermentation the people engaged in the cider making business walk around like zombies. They‘re permanently tipsy from the smell! I don‘t drink cider, it‘s too acid for my liking, at least the one which is drunk in my region (I remember drinking cider in England and liking it). Mixing fruit juice or wine with carbonated water doesn‘t seem a highly original idea but it obviously is. I know from two online friends that they look forward to travelling to Germany and Austria where they can drink Schorle. Why not introduce this refreshing drink to your country? Drink it yourselves and offer it to your friends. You may make converts. Prost! Cheers! --- *pronounced: ‘shorla‘, stress on the first syllable.