Germans serve apple wine in Bembel – gray clay jugs decorated with blue patterns
As Deutsche Welle notes, the list of beneficial qualities of this alcoholic drink is extensive. Apple wine improves digestion, positively affects the respiratory system, calms nerves, and relieves symptoms of a number of other ailments.
The strength of apple wine is only 5.8 percent, so among alcoholic drinks it can be considered one of the mildest and lightest. However, for residents of Hesse, these aspects are only of secondary importance. The main thing for them is the rituals and traditions associated with consuming Appelwoi.
It is customary to drink the wine in one of the cozy restaurants whose atmosphere encourages conversation. You will not be left sitting alone for long. The people of Hesse are considered hospitable hosts. If you find yourself at the same table with them, it will not be long before you hear a phrase in the local dialect: "Ei gude – wo komme se denn her?" – "Hey, dear, where are you from?" The further course of the conversation depends on its participants, language skills, ability to communicate with gestures, and also on the amount of wine.
Apple wine is drunk from ribbed glasses – Geripptes or Schoppen, and served in gray clay jugs decorated with blue patterns – Bembel. The jugs keep the wine cold on the table. To make visitors thirsty, a young server – Brezelbub – offers them salted pretzels, as well as sweet Haddekuchen cookies. The traditional menu also includes hearty potato dishes with green sauce.
The apple wine season in Hesse falls in autumn – the time of fruit ripening. It is made from fresh apple juice that ferments in barrels until the beginning of winter. Usually by the Christmas weeks the wine matures and appears in local restaurants. Those who try apple wine for the first time note its sour taste. True lovers of the drink prefer to consume it in its pure form, although many dilute it half and half with mineral water.
Traditional wine restaurants in Frankfurt am Main include, in particular, the inns Zur Sonne, Zum Gemalten Haus, and Fichtekränzi. And for tourists, a special route, the Ebbelwei-Expreß, is organized on one of the vintage trams.