Almdudler

All I thought I'd ever need to be happy

This soft drink is my youth spent in the suburbs of Vienna staying in my grandma’s flat. It tastes of when nothing was a worry, and the world was whatever was in front of my eyes at any given moment. These summers were spent with family members I struggle to see as often as I’d like, where walking up the road to the local pool and dining in the local restaurant was all I thought I’d ever need to be happy. I went to this special place every summer for three weeks for about 7 years. Drinking it reminds me of how contentment sits hand in hand with the blessed ingorance of childhood. The soft elderflower herby nectar has not changed one bit since it arrived in Austria 50 years ago. It goes perfectly with wiener schnitzel and a potato salad. 80 million liters of the beverage are produced yearly. It would challenge Coca-Cola if only it would be unleashed from it’s homeland...but part of me wishes it will always remain in it’s glass bottles in an unchanging landscape of Osterreich. The name itself roughly translates to "singing in the (alpine) meadows"... corruptable in every sense. No, indeed. Almdudler stays in a world where kids would never go to an all-inclusive Carribean hot-spot and eat ice-creams, chips and Coke.

Lisa, United Kingdom - 03 July 2007