Almdudler
/Moxie is the official state soft drink of Maine; it’s rather important up there. I think it’s pretty darn nifty that a state has an official soft drink. Heck, I wish all states had one, that way I could make it a point to “drink around the USA” and try them all. While official states sodas are cool and all, they don’t hold a candle to what I’m about to consume. Today’s selection is the NATIONAL Soft Drink of Austria and it’s called Almdudler - 50 Jahre. Since Austrian and German are similar languages I can tell you that 50 Jahre means 50 Years and is probably not a part of the name. Heck English is Germanic so you probably figured that one out without failing German in college. I have no earthly idea what Almdudler is, if it is indeed anything other than a brand. TO GOOGLE!
Ok, so Almdudler is just a brand, but the name apparently comes from an old phrase “auf der Alm dudeln” which means singing in the alpine meadows. There’s your history lesson for the day and a few words that will surely end up carrying some unsuspecting Austrians to our site. Howdy, Austrians!
The romantic bottle scene is somewhat ruined by the giant green iguana staring at them.
Looking at the affixed English label I see that Almdudler is made with carbonated water, cane sugar, citric acid and natural flavors. The ingredients go on to say that Almdudler contains NO preservatives or artificial ingredients. That’s a little bit of a white lie as citric acid is a natural preservative, but since it’s the national soft drink of Austria we’ll let it slide.
Why did I think this cap would twist off? No discernible smell comes from the bottle, but after a hefty huff I get the smallest ideas that it might be apple flavored. The ingredients, as you might recall, just list “natural flavors” so I’m really just guessing here. This is no time for guessing though, it’s time for drinking.
Well, it looks like I’ll be guessing for a while. Wait… delayed apple taste, oddly enjoyable. Almdudler doesn’t have a very strong flavor at all. It avoids the crashing chandelier at the beginning of the play and just shoves a small boy out to quietly sing. The initial taste has me stumped as it’s sort of fruity, but the flavor isn’t exaggerated enough for me to identify it. Gradually I get a bit of citrus taste until I’m led to the subtle apple at the end.
Ok, so I tried to cheat and look up the flavor of Almdudler by going to their website. I was met with the yell of “ALMDUDLER!” and then given a… well how shall I describe it. Did any of you ever play Monty Python’s Complete Waste of Time for PC? No? That doesn’t surprise me, but if you had you’d realize that this website is designed like that game from 1995. It’s the perfect comparison, so I really don’t care if you get it or not. Ok, so the website is very click friendly and has little surprises when you hover your mouse over it. Here, go to the website already. Just promise you’ll come back.
Long story somewhat shorter, I never found out the actual flavor of Almdudler, but I’m going to stick by my citrus to apple flavor assessment and recommend that you try it. There is a bitterness that takes residence within my mouth as I take sip after sip. It’s not going away, even if I wait a few minutes between consumption. This bitterness, even though I’m not a fan, does keep the beverage from being too sweet. I’ll take slightly bitter over nauseatingly sweet any day. Such an odd experience. The flavors are so familiar, but just different enough that it seems fresh. If I had to classify it as a soda though, I’d probably say bitter apple. Doesn’t that sound delicious? Bitter Apple soda? Yes, yes it does sound delicious. There I answered for you. Almdudler on the other hand is bitter apple soda plus, and the plus is really a minus in my opinion because something just isn’t working for me.
~A
