Live and Learn #5: Berliner Kindl Weisse

Early on in this blog, Jack made a guest appearance, counting down his Top 5 German Beers. One beer that made his list was the Berliner Kindl Weisse, a cross between beer and soda. This is a "Berlin speciality." There are two flavors; Rot and Grün. Yes, rot and grün are not flavors per se, but that is how they are ordered. Our Vermieter ("landlord") was kind enough to leave us a few Berliner Kindl Weisses as a welcoming gift. As Jack said in his post, "Not that great on the first taste, but [it] gets better as you keep drinking..."

The other day, Jack and I met up with some friends for a tandem session. Jack and another friend decided to give the Weisse another chance. Jack ordered the rot, our friend ordered grün. What we did not know was when you order a Weisse from a restaurant, it is served with a Schuss Wodka, or a shot of vodka. So now, this drink is part beer, part soda, part cocktail.

At first the sound of the combination sounded absolutely disgusting. Beer by itself is somewhat disgusting to me, but add soda and vodka? These Germans are crazy! However, having to try a sip of both Jack and our friend's drink, the tastes are actually quite interesting. The grün tastes exactly like a jolly rancher. No exaggeration, I really thought that there was a jolly rancher in my mouth. The Rot, while not tasting like a jolly rancher, tasted like cherry candy. No, not the cherry candy that tastes like cough medicine, but the good tasting cherry candies. We can't put our fingers on what to compare it with...perhaps cherry cola? Then again, I can't recall the last time I ever tried Cherry cola, so I could be wrong.

While not something that Jack wants to order on a regular basis, Jack was pleasantly surprised with the Weisse, and enjoyed the drink. He almost ordered another, but decided against it, as after one glass, it gets pretty sweet. If you ever decide to visit Berlin and enjoy beer, soda, or cocktails, it is worth a taste.