Well, it’s bloody cold outside – also in Rome, not only in Bavaria and Austria Felix yesterday! – so to talk about regional soft-drinks seems a bit odd. Still, it was a pleasure anyway that I could order at the Bistro on my Munich-Wien train not the usual uber-sweet multinational softdrink, but the mythical and definitely healthier Bionade!

The Bionade story is quite interesting, you can browse it on their web site...I meant to write something about it just after Amarena, Chinotto Neri, Cedrata Tassoni and Tessin’s Gazosa but then time flies…

I like the metal cap, it reminds me for some reason of Style Council…If you look at the pavements in Berlin it happens sometimes to see the target-like blue/white/red metal caps without any logo…after a few days in Berlin you will know where they come from!

If Triest is the northern-limit of the olive-tree, Lugano is the southern-limit of the Bionade: you can still find it in the stores. But I never saw it in other locations this side of the Alps. That’s good. Too much globalization kills the charme and the sense of place! Be it gazosa in Ticino, Bionade in Germany and Chinotto in Rome!

(To be honest, there had been reports, that Bionade would be on sale at McDonald’s…I never saw it, but it’s also true that I hardly go to McDo. I will investigate…)

Why not further extending to other blogs the softdrink euro-tour? Have a look on Balkan-crew, reporting on the Cockta, and at Firstwetakeberlin’s favourite, Club Mate…

The european tour of regional soft-drinks continues, with two black beauties…stay tuned!