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| Angelika/Mike Schilli |
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Michael At the end of 2023, we'd heard rumors that the quintessential German driver's drink "Spezi" would make it to the USA. In reality, Spezi is nothing special, just cola with Fanta and a bit of lemon, but all the sweetness of youth is contained in these memories of bulbous 0.4-liter glasses of the brown drink, with a half slice of lemon floating on top.
Due to the lack of purchasing options, I had already tried mixing Spezi myself in the meantime (Rundbrief 11/2012). But nowadays, to be honest, I prefer drinking Coca-Cola. However, not the corn syrup sludge that's sold under the brand name here in America, but rather re-imported "Mexican Coke" at the exorbitant price of 2 dollars per bottle, which is still sweetened with cane sugar.
Now we are in the year 2025, and the rumor mentioned above has apparently become reality. Recently, I found a six-pack of 0.33-liter bottles of the Paulaner "Spezi," which has been renamed "Sunset," at the "Total Wine" beverage market for the astronomical price of $19.99. An employee of the beverage market vouched for the quality of the imported drink with a photo (illustration 1), so I, of course, reluctantly bought it.
The first impression was not overwhelming, as the drink is less sweetened than the aforementioned Mexican Coke. However, perhaps my palate has become too accustomed to the generally more heavily sweetened drinks here in the USA after all these years.
The fact that the drink is now called "Sunset" instead of "Spezi" is due to a legal dispute in which the Paulaner brewery, which distributes it, fell out with the Augsburg brewery Riegele. Paulaner, which now belongs to the conglomerates Schörghuber and Heineken, was not allowed to use the brand name registered by Riegele since 1956 and the typical Spezi eye logo on the bottle cap.
As I said, Mexican Coke, which is ultimately identical to the Coca-Cola sold in Germany, tastes better to me. Maybe I should throw a slice of lemon into the glass after all?
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