So there. Its out. Maybe that’s another reason I left the country considered to be the epitome of beer 20 years ago. Now, don’t you even try to convert me – I have tried them all: English Ale (lukewarm), German Pils and Export, the good ones (Tannenzäpfle, Bocksbier, Meisels Hefeweizen etc.), and the watery ones (bud, Löwenbräu, Bitburger etc.). They all smell and taste like something that was made to make you want to throw up immediately.

So, every time I go out with friends and everyone, yes everyone, is ordering a pitcher of Nama^[1] (生ビール), I always have to pass. Then usually people ask me whether I don’t feel well, or whether I don’t drink any alcohol at all.

Funny how nobody seems to be capable of imagining that there are people who simply don’t like to drink something that in most cases is an acquired taste to begin with. So, I go on ordering wine^[2], or chûhai^[3], or if I’m in an Irish or English pub I get me a pint of Strongbow (or Blackthorn – whatever cider comes the way).

So there. This is my coming out.

---

1. draught beer
2. Well, I’m a “Vierteleschlotzer” from Baden. Biggest wine producing region in Germany.
3. The name is derived from Shôchû Highball. The traditional Chûhai is made with Shôchû and carbonated water flavored with lemon, though some modern commercial variants use vodka in place of shôchû