As Lauren and I sat in a restaurant the other night, savoring the last few sips of our dinner-time beverages, we concluded that the average American must drink more than the average German (maybe European) because we are always thirsty and always underwhelmed by German drink quantities. This frustrating truth manifests itself almost everyday in a number of ways (disclaimer: this doesn't have anything to do with German beer quantities nor with the American tendency to order a 64oz drum of coke):
1. No free glasses of water with a meal. Why is it that I must instead buy a (small) bottle of fresh bubbly mineral water to complement my meal? The tap water isn't toxic, and let's be honest: water is water. At home, regardless of my choice of beverage, I would gulp down four glasses of tap water without even thinking twice. Instead, I'll either pay for a 5 euro bottle of exquisite mineral water fresh from a secret glacial spring high in the Italian Alps, or just order a beer.
2. It's certainly a cafe culture over here. Lauren and I have been known to sit in a single cafe for three hours with a single cup of coffee. Not that the cups of coffee are of a sufficient size to last an entire sitting. In fact, they are sized to last a maximum of 7.5 minutes, and that's if you're willing to let it approach room temperature. You see, what they call a Tasse (cup), we would consider an espresso shot. Three generous sips and I'm done-ski. What they call a Pott is really a mere mockery of the American equivalent and just the size of a standard American coffee mug. At work, I initially made the mistake of ordering a Tasse because I thought ordering a Pott sounded a little outlandish, only to get a mug filled almost halfway. Now I order a full Pott and it almost fills the mug. Lauren has remarked that Starbuck's often wins out over the cute charming Berlin equivalent simply because you get enough coffee to make the trip worth it. Maybe it's just that, despite the extraordinary number of coffee shops around, coffee is a scarce commodity over here.
3. At work, I'm the only one I know that drinks out of the "large" glass. "Large," it should be noted, is 0.4 liters, or about the size of a coke can. The small is half that size and again, another mockery of anyone who enjoys the act of drinking. What's more staggering is that many colleagues never get anything to drink with their meal at all: to me there are few things worse than eating a meal without some form of liquid at least to clear the palate and wash it all down. But I make up for that, because you better believe that I get a large syrupy glass of in-your-face freedom-loving Coca-Cola every day, not only because it's out of a fountain (as rare as the basic concept of free refills) but oftentimes just for the effect it has on my baffled-looking German colleagues.
Which all leads me back to my original query: how do Germans stay hydrated? My common solution - bringing a Nalgene of tap water from home - still evokes furrowed brows and confused stares. And there aren't water fountains around. I did discover that one colleague of mine solves the problem by stashing three crates of mineral water behind the desk, but that's an expensive solution that I just can't justify.
Well, if you'll now excuse me, I'm off to search for something to drink.
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I don't get it, either. I'm always trying to calculate which beverage is the most thirst-quenching for my money. In Austria, you used to be able to get a kid's drink, called Himbeersoda, in restaurants for about 2 Euro. Not only was it cheaper than everything else, it was also a full ,5L. And it was made with mineral water (the equivalent amount of which cost considerably more on the menu). Of course, no such thing here in Berlin.
ReplyDeleteI've pretty much just resigned to going thirsty. :)