Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-10-16
DRINKS OF GERMANS
A STUDY IN THE FATHERLANn
WATERS, BEERS AND WINES.
Beverages That Are Popular in Hom-
burg, Baden-Baden and
Wiesbaden.

He laughs at govt who never felt twinge,
and that Is probably the reason why my
attitude toward the German waters is
lacking in reverence.
The Homburg waters have a decided
smack of EPSON salts, taken cold. l speak
OF the Elzabethan variety. There are
other springs which l did not try. They
are so ferocious and so potent that the at
tendant wants a medical certificate before
he will serve you. Baden Baden supplies
milder beverage. warm from the earth,
and almost as insipd as tepid water
At Wiesbaden you see the spring a-gur-
Cling in a shallow basin at the end of the
Trinkhale. In bulk. the water is brown
and steaming. Taken in glass it is almost
colorless, and 1t tastes like ordinary warm
water with pinch Of table salt. or like
cruel without the oatmeal.
Much is made of the fact that the heat
is natural, giving the water a medical eff
fcacy 1t would not otherwise possess At
Homburg, on the other hand. when you
desire your drink with the chill off they
put your glass under the hot water tap.
therefore you come to see that fashions in
medicines change with locality well
with time. Take this medicine quickly,
madam, while it still cures says the doc
tor in one of Moliere's comedies.
The Real Cure.
Probably it is the taking of the medicine
rather than the medicine itself which works
the larger part of the cure. No whisky no
sparkling wines, no late hours. and not too
much tobacco; plain, light foods and
regular habits, a gentle walk before break
fast, leisurey game of golf on toy course
before lunch; a drive through the odorous
pnewoods in the afternoon; dinner with
mild German Wines and then early to bed,
!
mountains.
l met a friend at Homburg bravely
swallowing his third glass No, there's
nothing the matter with me- he confessed,
but prevention is better than cure
When he returns to England he will attrib-
ute ms htness to the waters rather than to
the fresh air and the regular habits. But
Homhurg will not object to that
Being one of the lean kline | found other
German drinks which suited me better than
the Observation-Disclosures for choice. 1t can
be bought in London, the Gambrinus and
the Cafe de Europe demonstrate. But as
English Bass is never quite the real article
on the continent, so Muenchener is never
quite the real thing in England. Whether
beers have to be fortified or not for a voyage,
outside their own country they have ten
dency to be both doubtful and dear. Bass Is
too ''gassy'' the continent; Munich too
biting in England
In it's native beer gardens Muenchener liz
the prince of beers-brown and bland and
soft, with a cream of froth like beaten
egg. delicate flavor. cold, yet not ICY
refreshing to the body and comforting to
the stomach-"and," said the baron, there
Is not an inconvenience, malady, ayes,
that Is it-headache in a ton of it, not even
In the Heidelburg tunn'
The German at His Best.
The German sits down to his beer-drink-
Ing as to holy rite. He selects a COM
Portable chair, ungirds his loins. empties
the tankard at gulp, and gazes with pride
upon the growing tower Of metal plates
which indicate the number he has con-
sumed.
You fancy you see him growing fatter as
he drinks. On a very hot day l accom-
plshed six pots at a sitting. The waiter
said he sorry did not like the beer,
Pilsener is a thinner beer, more biting
to the tongue. less comforting to the body.
Frankfort is a cross between the Hyo.
Dutch beer has the ripe color and the soft
froth of Munich. but 1t has a hard tang,
less pleasing to the alien palate. Rohe milan
beer strikes as being in some way
"wetter' than the others. And of all beers
the worst. to the palate of the inquiring
stranger. are the native beers of Belgium.
Lambric. about which the Flemish waiter
became enthusiastic, was like sour cider
made from decrepit apples.
OF German wines am no judge. To me
they are thin and poor. Even the famed
Johannisberg left me unmoved. Not that
I go so far Mark Twain. who said that
Rhine wines were distinguished from vine
gar by the label. That compliment I re-
serve for sour and unfriendly Moselle,
bottled By the hotel. which the "oberkell-
ner' assured me was as good as the hook
I had at dinner the night before.
AS to the sparkling varieties. I should
honestly prefer a seidlitz powder with my
meals OF the ripeness and flavor of good
caret. to say nothing of the generous
fruitiness of Burgundy, the Rhine vines
have none.
Grows Fat and Old.
In his youth the German is shapely. oc-
casiorally even slim. His military training
gives him a straight back. AS the years
go by he grows big and fat and has taste
for the restful forms Of recreation. The
reasons seem to be beer, beef and bands.
Set band playing, and the German viii
listen to it. drinking beer the while, until
further orders. He listens with a medita-
tive complacency, except when he happens
to be engaged in conversation, when he
talks with fiuency and vigor. The English
mans voice Is an apologize murmur by
comparison. unless he happens to come
from Yorkshire.