Reminder of Germany

Kava is the local drink here in Fiji. its made from the roots of the yuqona plant. bashed to a powder and then mixed with water. its actually not alcholic but is a soporific drug. Bloody awful stuff

gingerjim wrote:

SOURKRAUT

Its definetly not sourkraut but i've bumped into a few of them in my time in Germany.

Tried looking on the net for it as its one of those drinks you get in and give to people you don't like.

It could be Graupe or graupen but not 100% positive, but it was dam awful. First drunk it in alpenbach on Ski Training. Was used as a sort of initiation drink.

Was it as bad as Badger Bitter?????THat was a foul brew,Funilly enough the locals in Blandford swore by it/

Gordon. wrote:

Was it as bad as Badger Bitter?????THat was a foul brew,Funilly enough the locals in Blandford swore by it/

Must admit never tasted Badger Bitter but by the sounds of it...this stuff i had in Austria was worse.

Never met a beer I didn't like....encountered the odd schnapps however that really didn't sit well with me or my guts! Korn...vile stuff but if that wasn't bad enough, we of course had to try Doppelkorn....yeeee-uck!! Twice as vile, go figure!

Then there was some schnapps that had gold flecks floating around in it....we were told it was real gold, but I rather doubt it...probably some el cheapo glitter crap made in Taiwan that will give me cancer later!

Stephen, did you ever try Apfelkorn? Nectar from the Gods.

Shelldrake wrote:

Stephen, did you ever try Apfelkorn? Nectar from the Gods.

Probably....there were very few libations I DIDN'T try back then! All in the name of international relations, of course!! :-)

Stephen Lock wrote:

Then there was some schnapps that had gold flecks floating around in it....we were told it was real gold, but I rather doubt it...probably some el cheapo glitter crap made in Taiwan that will give me cancer later!

Goldschlager?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldschl%C3%A4ger

I've managed to get Herforder here in the UK .Lidl used to sell Apfelkorn but there's a company on the net that sells it.......3 bottles chilling nicely in my beer fridge. and in the freezer is a bottle of Jaegermeister...been there since 2007!



edited to add......the bloke I got the Herfies from also sent a bottle of Curry Ketchup ( the proper German stuff ) yum!

Bloody hell Bob, had to reach for my Sunglasses when your Avatar came up.

Goldschlager it was, yes!! Seemed, even back then when gold was $30 US an ounce, it seemed awfully decadent to me to be drinking something with gold in it....like something out of Imperial Rome or 1920s Berlin...Divine Decadence!!!

So, of course, I drank it.....

the only beer i disliked ,was sold in the naafi in blighty and germany. WATNEYS BROWN ALE, YUK, ginger

Gordon. wrote:

Was it as bad as Badger Bitter?????THat was a foul brew,Funilly enough the locals in Blandford swore by it/

I don't think anything was as bad as that stuff from the Hall & Shitehouse brewery! Never saw it sold outside the Blandford area and there is a reason for that.

Lidl in Spain sell Veltins and Bitburger. Shame the stores in UK don't.

Mike

Mike, I spotted Bitburger and Efes in Tesco yesterday. Didn't buy any as it's bad for you!!

Shelldrake wrote:

Mike, I spotted Bitburger and Efes in Tesco yesterday. Didn't buy any as it's bad for you!!

Thanks for the intel as a result of your recce. Think I'll risk my health on this one
Mike

I was recently on holiday in the Mosel region and noticed that Bitburger was being sold in half litre plastic bottles, it reminded me of the 2 litre plastic bottles of beer that were on sale in the late 80's - disgusting! Incidentally, all bottled soft and alcoholic drink sold in Germany is now subject to a deposit which is refunded on return of the aforementioned, usually 25 cents. They are placed in a special machine which then refunds the dosh - good idea. I've got a Bottle Bank outside my back gate, the binmen think I run an Offie!

Shelldrake wrote:

Incidentally, all bottled soft and alcoholic drink sold in Germany is now subject to a deposit which is refunded on return of the aforementioned, usually 25 cents. They are placed in a special machine which then refunds the dosh - good idea. I've got a Bottle Bank outside my back gate, the binmen think I run an Offie!

Their plastic bottles seem to be thicker than the ones here.When we were there we " deposited " some plastic Irn Bru bottles we had in the car....thought the machine would throw a wobbly but no we got our 25c
The bloke I buy my Herfies from adds a deposit onto the bottles....could get the deposit back but bugger going all the way to Ludgershall......

Way back in the 1980s before the NAAFI sold 2ltr bottles of Irn Bru we bought lots of Coke a Cola ( them big 2ltr glass bottles) 10pf refund on them.The money came in handy at the end of the month.

Anyone who has attended a Town or Music festival in Germany lately can't fail to notice there are no plastic or glass bottles laying around on the ground after cessation of the celebrations. Reason being, all the homeless and down and outs are walking around with super market trolleys clearing up all the bottles. At 25c a time, they must make a fortune.

We've had recycling of various beverage containers in Canada for some time (bottles, cans and, more recently, plastic milk jugs etc) and even at that people still toss bottles out so, yeah, we have bottle-pickers whose source of income is collecting bottles and trundling off to the bottle depot.

Depending on size of bottle, or bottles vs cans etc., the deposit varies. Anywhere from ten cents to, I think, 25 cents.

On a good day, they can make about 30 dollars which isn't a lot really.....do it 5 days a week that's only $150 a week, so $600 a month.....if they have a small flat (most live on the street anyway) you're looking at a minimum of $825/month....

But it's enough to buy ciggies or some booze (a lot of them have addiction issues, which is why they're on the street to begin with).

Life's a little different with a bit of cash in your pocket than naught, no matter what it gets spent on (and not all of them blow it on booze or dope). Plus, it cleans up the streets and, I think, it is a "job" for them....better than lolling around begging/panhandling. And it's hard work, involving a lot of hours because if you leave it until too late in the day, your route's been picked over already. A lot of these guys are out there at 6am and keep at it for 10, 12 hours!

alan8376 wrote:

Reason being, all the homeless and down and outs are walking around with super market trolleys clearing up all the bottles. At 25c a time, they must make a fortune.

When I was posted out of Germany in the late 70s it was an affluent place.

I can't imagine there being "homeless and down and outs" in the country.

Where are they all from ?

They have come from inside Germany's own society, albeit some from the East. I would put it on a par with the UK..

Most towns/cities have your drinkers, homeless, down and outs and beggers on the street corner. Germany also has a high unemployment level. And like UK, many have a dog in tow.

Not sure if they can claim money to feed the dog? Can they in UK?

I`ve seen them in Edinburgh,complete with dog.then going to the Cafe Royle for lunch.Beggars belief

I never buy a big issue. I think the idea is a good one but it is obviously being abused by some.

There is a woman who sells outside of a shop by us. She is a Romanian i think and has been doing this for about five years.

During that time, she has had a baby who is looked after at home by her husband. She is dropped off each day in a better car than my old thing and picked up later in the same.

True she stands there in all weathers and is quite popular with some of the locals but she is abusing the system and givijg big issue sellers and homeless people a bad name. Why do the owners(?) allow this to go on?

I`m with you on this one Teabag.

Teabag wrote:

I never buy a big issue. I think the idea is a good one but it is obviously being abused by some.

There is a woman who sells outside of a shop by us. She is a Romanian i think and has been doing this for about five years.

During that time, she has had a baby who is looked after at home by her husband. She is dropped off each day in a better car than my old thing and picked up later in the same.

True she stands there in all weathers and is quite popular with some of the locals but she is abusing the system and givijg big issue sellers and homeless people a bad name. Why do the owners(?) allow this to go on?

Sorry....what's a "big issue" that one can sell or buy? I know what a big issue is (immigration being one, obviously!!) but clearly that's not the issue here (groan...sorry.... ). Is a 'big issue' some sort of street paper, then? Many of our homeless and such sell those here, or did until government funding sunk it. It was a good thing, actually. They'd buy the stack for whatever it was it went for from the Calgary Urban Project Society (CUPS....a great organization!) and, as an independent vendor, sell it on the streets for whatever they could get per issue...most folks bought it for a dollar, so profit margin was pretty good. Not fantastic....they weren't buying Rolex watches with the proceeds or anything....but okay and a nice subsidy to whatever disability pension or what-have-you they were on. Sadly, I forget the name of the paper.....I'd buy one occasionally.

i get annoyed at their manner when you refuse to buy one, if i were a bit younger i would deck a few of them , ginger