Hello
I will be traveling up the Rhine through the Christmas markets and I am seeking suggestions for Schnapps tasting in cities along the way. Ports of calls will include Breisach, Mannheim, Koblenz and Cologne.
The market stands will likely offer Schnapps but also thinking there might be particular restaurants or shops fellow travelers might have encountered.
Appreciate hearing suggestions I can check out ahead of my December river trip.
Thank you
David
Posted by
Alsenborn, Germany
2361 posts
Well, based on the sequence of cities, you're going down the Rhine, not up. i can't comment on Breisach, but Mannheim's market isn't worth a stop. If you have the time, get on a train and go 10 minutes east to Heidelberg which is much better. And at Koblenz, get a ticket for the Winter Garden in the Ehrenbreitstein Fortress. It's fantastic. The market there isn't bad, but the show in the old fort is much better.
Schnapps isn't that much of a thing in the area you're traveling through. It's wine country, so brandies are much more common. There are some distilleries though, so you should be able to find something. Look these guys up: https://www.birkenhof-brennerei.de/
And in Rudesheim there's Asbach.
Posted by
Adams Basin
714 posts
As KGB has pointed out, that area is known for it's wine. But, as with anywhere in Germany/Europe, schnapps of some sort is almost always offered in decent restaurants and it tends to be quite regional.
What would be helpful to understand is what do you define as being a schnapps? Do you think Jägermeister (a dijustif) is a schnapps?Are you going to be content with a shot of Korn? Are you familiar with Obstler? Do you enjoy Kirsch? Have you tried the high-octane fuel they make in the monasteries around Vienna? These are my favorite, albeit Austrian. Plum, peach, pear and don't go for the sweetened up low octane versions...
How about another personal favorite from Berlin (we also found this in the Rhine region), a proper Ratzeputz.
If you have some familiarity with the styles, you may then try to plan visits to the regions where they are from, but in general, many of these are available everywhere. You would be hard pressed to find a place without Kirsch or Asbach.