Spezi Cola-Mix

Spezi is a southern German everyday drink, strongest around Augsburg and Bavaria, and it doesn't need a feast day. It sits beside a quick Brotzeit, a bread-and-sausage meal, a picnic lunch, a football plate, or a Sunday table where the roast is gone and people still want something cold in the glass.

Im Norden anders, im Süden anders. In the south many people say Spezi and mean cola mixed with Orangenlimonade, orange soda. Further north you hear Cola-Mix, or people name a bought brand and let the bottle decide the balance. I don't. Nicht aus der Fertigflasche, not from the ready-mixed bottle. The household version is sharper because you hold the ratio yourself.

The rule is simple: two parts cola, one part orange soda, both properly cold. Cold liquid holds its fizz; warm liquid foams high and dies flat. The cola has to stay in front, with its bitter edge, while the orange lifts it. Half and half is sweeter, and then you are drinking orange candy with brown colour. Das ist kein Bierzelt.

Pour gently down the side of the glass and don't beat it with a spoon. One slow stir if the colour sits in layers, no more. Watch the bubbles at the rim and the amber-brown colour in the glass. That's the whole work. Erst verstehen, dann kochen.