So Im leaving for a brief holiday in Paris over Thanksgiving, and I got to wondering, what are some various names for drinks in french, and are there any that are unique to paris. I know wine is the staple, but surely theres something they prefer to drink late in the Pubs. So what would be the french name for an Up All Night, a Martini, a Screwdriver, a Bloody Mary… Anybody have the scoop on this one, or am i just way off base in thinking they enjoy anything but fermented grapes.
-PSM
Actually beer is the most popular drink, at least among the younger generation. You might try some of the big brands, like 1664 or Stella Artois, but I’d personally recomend some more artistic Belgian brews.
As far as mixed drinks are concerned, you must have some kir (wine and crme de cassis) for apŽro. If you feel like trying something different, you might try to find a place that serves chartreuse tonic.
I don’t know what an up all night is, but a martini is a martini, a bloody mary is a bloody mary and screwdrivers are usually known as vodka-orange.
Anyway, it would be very wrong to think that only wine is served in France.
Im confused about the kir and apŽro. What’s what and how do you pronounce them. French isnt exactly a language I do well with. I can do German (will that come in any use there?) but alas no french.
Oh, and are there any Belgian brews you recommend?
A martini is certainly not a martini. If you order a martini in France, you will get just a small glass of vermouth (your choice of either white, red, or pink – or, en francais, blanc, rouge, rose). It is usually consumed as an aperitif, before the meal. If you want a proper martini, make sure the bartender/waitress knows what you’re talking about.
On the whole, fancy cocktails are not as popular in Paris as they are in the States. People usually stick to one liquor with a mixer (e.g., whisky coca, the aforementioned vodka orange). More upscale or trendier places may offer cocktail menus, and often they are in English. While in Paris let me recommend you try some Pernod and a kir or two (a kir royale, if you want some bubbly added to it). Kir (pronounced “keer”) is creme de cassis with white wine; kir royale is creme de cassis with champagne (cassis has a berry taste to it).
For beers, Stella is quite popular, as are Pelforth and Kronenberg. These are all good options. If you see Despe (short for Desperado) for sale, avoid it at all costs – imagine second-rate Tequiza beer. But I’d suggest going for Belgian brews, if you have the option (particularly Leffe).
I’m assuming that jovan’s keyboard is transposing some characters: apŽro was probably supposed to be apèro (shortened form of apèritif). If you have difficulty with French you might stumble over 1664 (which you’d have to pronounce in full: seize cent soixante quatre) - it’s the same thing as the Kronenbourg peepthis has mentioned btw. Other French beers include Météor, Breug and Saint Omer.
There are a lot of Belgian beers - Stella Artois is the one you’ll encounter most frequently, but Hoegaarden, Leffe, Belle-Vue and Duvel are freely available and worth a try too. Belgians are beer connoisseurs and some of the best are produced in small quantities so might not be easy to find in France.
You’re bound to find plenty of other names you’ll recognise if you drink imported beer at home - Heineken, Carlsberg, Amstel, Becks etc., etc.
Good idea to plan ahead. I was stuck for a night in Paris. Not as much fun as it might sound considering my circumstances. I felt that the only thing that might salvage the evening was getting tipsy.
I spent 10 minutes trying to figure out how to order a rum and coke.
Rum and Coke? I received a blank stare…
Rum and Cola? Continued blank stare…
Rum and Pepsi? Did she blink???
Rum and Soda? Holding on to blank stare…
Rum and That? pointing to soda machine This got me a slight nod so I thought she figured out the soda part at least.
Bacardi?
Rum?
Ron Bacardi?
Captain Morgan?
She finally nodded and mixed me a drink. I have no idea what it was. It was certainly not Coke and although it had some liquor in it I have no idea what the liquor was. I drank it anyway. And three more just like it…
You should probably be aware that a lot of continental beers are strong. Duvel’s one of my favourites but its alcohol content is 8.5%, so steady as you go ;).
Not to yank this into IMHO territory, but why don’t you drink whatever the place you’re going to is famous for? The whole “When in Rome…” thing?
You won’t perish if you wait to get home to New York or Chicago or San Francisco to have a properly-mixed martini.
Have a Pernod or an Armagnac or a nice cool vermouth with a twist of lemon. Hell, have a GLASS OF WINE.
We’re drinking a lot of Languedoc over at our place these days because that was the most common pour at the cafe nearest our Paris hotel several months back. We decided we liked it a lot.
Travelling is for LEARNING NEW STUFF. (One thing you’ll learn is that Frenchmen can’t make decent cocktails.)
I would have suggested that myself if it hadn’t been off topic (you can keep your Pernod and Ricard btw - what you want is Anisette Gris with cold water, especially on a hot day). The house red in any old steak house will still be delicious, and don’t be shy about asking the somelier to recommend a wine to go with your meal - he’ll be proud to.
One other thing that occured to me after re-reading In Conceivable’s post is that pronunciation may have been a problem? It’s possible that French barstaff won’t understand, or may appear not to understand, if you don’t say your order the way they expect. That won’t be a problem if you order Flemish-named beers, because the French can’t pronounce them either, but it might be a problem if you’re trying to say the French names.
I agree with previous posters. Cocktails are not their forte.
Europe is rougly devided into thre belts. Vodka, beer and wine.
Vodka belt: Russia and Scandinavia (But not Denmark), and to an extent Scotland is all on the same latitude. This is where vodka and hard spirits come from. The traditional drinking pattern is to drink strong alcohol as a shot. Sweep it down, unblended. Of course, hard liquor is made south of this belt, but it’s sipped, as with cognac.
Beer belt: Poland, Czech(oslovakia), Germany, Hollan, Belgium and Northern France. The French word Brasserie, which you might have heard (along with bistro, as a type of restaurant) actually means brewery.
Wine belt: South of mid France.
Also - beware that prizes in bars are not uniform. It will always be cheapest inside, at the counter. A breif anecdote will illustrate this:
A couple of friends and I walked in, checked the prizes on the board over the counter (always posted), a beer was 9F. We walked out, sat on the sidewalk and ordered. This was late afternoon. Typically you get served and get a small receipt left on the table, and add them up and pay when you leave.
So we sat there for a couple of hours.
When it came time for adding up, whe were in for a surprise. The 9F beer was 15 for us sitting outside. After 6 p.m. it went up to 18F. And when the pianoplayer started battering the keys around 8 p.m. prize went to 21F.
This was not robbing the tourist, it’s the way it’s done.
You’ll have fun. And learn.
Also, beware of public restrooms in bars. They all look like lairs for something from another dimension. You get a distinct feeling that not even the soles of your shoes are safe.
I’ve never forgotten a dialogue exchange from Neil Simon’s otherwise-forgettable first play, Come Blow Your Horn…
Character One: “What’ll you have to drink?”
Character Two: “A Scotch and ginger ale, please.”
Character One (does a double-take): “They must know you in every bar in town.”
Nowadays, as Civilization is in decline, I see more people (southerners, mainly) mixing their whiskey with soft drinks, so the joke probably isn’t as funny as it was in 1961…
Southern Comfort and Ginger Ale is a good drink to give a woman (me being sexist here) who doesn’t enjoy other mixed drinks.
Actually - I enjoy red wine and coke. With ice.
Boy, the only Fench mixed-drink I’d ever heard of is the Soixante-quinze, named after the 75-mm recoiless cannon of WWI. Nobody drank them except American expats in the 1920’s. Nobody drinks them today.
Its descendant is the champagne cocktail, which nobody drinks today, either.
Well, in some respects yes, I do want to experience the culture, and in asking this question I was hoping for answers as to what to drink. I know the french dont sip wine as the only option, and I was sort of wondring what there was and what I had to fall back on. I already have information on local specialties, I was just curious as to what one would call the things you can get here. Believe me, normally im ackling people to get to the front of the line to jump down somones throat for not taking in local culture, but at the same time, being a western country, theres cant differ that incredebly much from our own. So I rest that once I put the Wine down, I may just want a beer or a rum and coke.
Slithy Tove, the Soixante-quize, or “French 75” as it’s called in the U.S. is indeed still served and enjoyed. My lover likes them a lot, as does the bartender (also a friend) who introduced them to us. I know of a number of restuarants in NYC that serve them, and that’s not counting the bars that specialize in pretentious champange drinks.
Kir = Creme de Cassis + white wine ( properly Aligote from Burgundy)
Kir Royal = Creme de Cassis + Cremant ( sparkling white wine)
Kir Imperiale = Creme de Cassis + Champagne
Excuse the nitpick ( but it will make a difference to the price)
In my 3 years of bartending, including one in Paris, I’ve never heard of a Kir Imperiale. In Paris a Kir Royale was always understood to be cassis & champagne (or sparking wine, whichever was at hand) – and if the customer wanted to specify champagne rather than sparkling wine, s/he would say so (“une Kir Royale, Veuve-Cliquot”), and be charged accordingly. Kind of like the difference between ordering a rail vs. shelf drink.
