Which mixed drinks are “typically German”?
Sparkling water with fruit juice, beer with just about anything. Mixed drinks have traditionally been popular in Germany - and are still very much on trend.
Luca Rehse-Knauf ,
25.06.2025 
A Schorle is probably the best-known German mixed drink: it’s a fruit juice mixed with sparkling water - preferably with very fizzy water. The Apfelschorle made with apple juice is the classic version. Whether you want it naturally cloudy or clear, sweet or tart: with so many different apple varieties in Germany, you will always find the perfect basis for your drink. And for those who prefer their Schorle with alcohol, a white wine Schorle - a Weißweinschorle - is a refreshing choice on hot days.
What types of Schorle are there?
A Schorle can be mixed to suit your particular taste - either more or less sweet and very fizzy or not so much, depending on the ratio of juice to sparkling water. Elderflower, hibiscus and rhubarb are all popular varieties of Schorle just now. And if you like a particularly sweet drink, simply leave out the water and combine two different juices - like a classic KiBa (from the German words Kirschsaft and Bananennektar) made of cherry juice and banana nectar. Juice and Schorle are as it were the healthier option when it comes to soft drinks.
A Spezi, on the other hand, is a classic carbonated soft drink. Known all over the world, this blend of coke and orangeade was originally invented in the Bavarian city of Augsburg: in the 1950s, a drinks manufacturer noticed that youngsters in pubs were often mixing the two themselves - and without further ado launched the mix itself as a ready-made product.
What is the best thing to mix with beer?
German breweries are proud of the beer purity law: over 500 years old, it stipulates that beer must only be made using water, malt, hops and yeast. Though this guarantees a high-quality product, it does limit variety. That’s why there is a whole series of mixed drinks that take great pleasure in violating this mediaeval dictate.
The classic is the Radler - called a shandy in the UK - which is a mixture of lager and lemonade, ideal on a hot summer’s day. Berliner Weisse with a dash of raspberry or woodruff syrup is also a popular variant, especially in the capital Berlin. For those with a penchant for something a bit less subtle, a Bananenweizen is a good choice - a wheat beer combined with banana juice. And in Munich you will occasionally see people blending Blue Curaçao with lemonade and wheat beer. Known as Isarwasser (Isar water), it shimmers in a turquoise hue just like the river it is named after.
