Panaché oder Radler?

Summer might be over now, but that only means that I have 9 months or so to prepare you for next summer in Switzerland, and that might not be enough. So let's start now.

One of my favorite drinks of late is the Shandy. For those of you who know it and me, you are probably shaking your head and saying, "Chick drink..." Then again, Jace, I told you that is not nice, and not always true... some men drink Shandys, right? RIGHT?!

What is a Shandy? I am glad you asked. Well, it is half beer and half lemonade, and I love it because it is super refreshing. In Switzerland you can order it using either the French name, Panaché, or the German equivalent, Radler. (Which is more popular in Zurich, I wonder??)

If you are a light weight like me, it allows you to drink along with the boys and hold out longer. Or, if people are far away, it makes you look like a big drinker, because usually the Radler comes in a bigger glass then just beers. Only up close can you see the lightness of the drink and know it ain't no beer. It is great though because once the waitress delivered the beers and I got the big Radler and Jace got a normal beer and boy did he have beer envy, just because mine came in a beer glass that shadowed his! (Insert Home Improvement style man grunts here...Awruf Awruf!)... until I told him it was a Radler at which point the teasing started and has never stopped.

Intriguingly enough, when I was in Vienna last and ordered one of these to go with my Kaiserschmarrn, it came premixed in a bottle. So it must be pretty popular actually. It was good, but I like beers on tap with my lemonade, thank you very much.

Oh, and before you say it. I know what you are thinking and just stop now. Of course there must be some food rule out there that says "do not eat pancakes and beer" or "Kaiserschmarrn and beer" but let me tell you, on a sticky, sweaty summer day everyone knows there is nothing better than a nice cold beer - mind just happens to be sweetened with a drop of lemonade. Ah, the Radler (hiding top right, below). Give it a go. Perhaps we will have an Indian summer yet, after all this miserable rain, and it will hit just the right spot!