Search
Brazil
Argentina
Bolivia
Chile
Colombia
Ecuador
Guyana
French Guiana
Falkland Islands (Malvinas)
Paraguay
Peru
Suriname
Uruguay
VenezuelaGermany
Austria
Belgium
Croatia
Denmark
Spain
Finland
France
Greece
the Netherlands
Hungary
Ireland
Iceland
Italy
Luxembourg
Norway
Poland
Portugal
the United Kingdom
the Czech Republic
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
the United States
Mexico
the Dominican RepublicTurkey
South Africa
Australia
FijiFlavors · Hesse
Dry, acidic apple wine, fully fermented, served in the Bembel ceramic jug and in the diamond-patterned glass called the Gerippte. It is a protected geographical indication of Hesse, and the apple wine culture of the state is listed in the German inventory of intangible heritage.
Traditional drink from Hesse
Also known as: Apfelwein, Ebbelwoi, Äppelwoi, Stöffche
Illustrative images. The pictures in this guide are illustrations based on the real place, not photographs, and may differ from it.
Click a photo to enlarge it.
Hessischer Apfelwein — Hesse, Germany
Hessischer Apfelwein is the apple wine of Hesse. It is made from pure apple juice, fermented to completion, so it is dry, yellow-golden in color, and tastes acidic and somewhat astringent—quite different from the sweet ciders of other countries. In Frankfurt and the surrounding area it acquires dialect nicknames such as Ebbelwoi, Äppelwoi and Stöffche.
The name has been a protected geographical indication of the European Union since 2010. Fermentation, clarification and bottling must take place in Hesse. The German trademark authority justified extending the designation to the whole state because of the large number of producers, especially in central and southern Hesse, and because the public associates the drink with Hesse. Traditionally the apples come from orchards of tall trees scattered across the fields.
The way it is served is part of the culture. Apfelwein is brought in a Bembel, a gray ceramic jug with blue decorations, and drunk from the Gerippte, a glass with a diamond pattern. It can be served neat or mixed with sparkling water, called Gespritzter. In apple wine taverns, at long wooden tables, it accompanies dishes such as Grüne Soße, smoked pork chops with sauerkraut and the cheese Handkäs.
In 2022, the apple wine culture of Hesse was included in the German national inventory of intangible cultural heritage, maintained by the German Commission for UNESCO. The Sachsenhausen neighborhood in Frankfurt concentrates traditional taverns, and in August Frankfurt usually holds an apple wine festival in the city center. In 2007 a European project threatened to reserve the word “wine” for grape products only, and the reaction in Hesse became famous; the name Apfelwein was retained.
Hesse
Hessischer Apfelwein is a protected geographical indication covering the entire state of Hesse, where it is fermented and bottled.
Apple juice (100%), fully fermented with natural or selected yeasts. For the Gespritzter, sparkling water.
Served from the Bembel, the ceramic jug, in the Gerippte glass, either neat or mixed with sparkling water. It accompanies Frankfurt cuisine, such as Grüne Soße. Enjoy in moderation.
All year round; in summer, in the tavern gardens and at Frankfurt’s apple wine festival in August.
Your questions
It is the gray ceramic jug with blue decorations in which apple wine is served in Hesse’s taverns. The matching glass, with a diamond pattern, is called the Gerippte.
No. It ferments to completion and is dry and acidic, unlike sweet ciders. Many people drink it mixed with sparkling water, the Gespritzter.
In apple wine taverns, especially in the Sachsenhausen district, where it is served from the Bembel alongside local dishes.
Flavors of Germany
Aachen spice cookie, sweetened with syrup and with small pieces of brown candi sugar that crackle when you bite them. It can be hard or soft, plain, with almonds or coated in chocolate. It has a protected geographical indication from the European Union.
Fresh pasta dough filled with ground meat, spinach, soaked bread, onion and herbs, served in broth, browned with onions, or sliced and fried with egg. A Swabian dish with protected geographical indication since 2009, traditional at Easter week.
Layered chocolate sponge cake soaked in Kirschwasser, the cherry brandy of the Black Forest, with cherries and whipped cream, topped with chocolate shavings. Black Forest tourism presents it as the region’s most famous sweet specialty.
Dark beer with a smoky flavor, made with malt dried in the smoke of beech firewood. Bamberg tourism presents it as part of the city’s identity, and the traditional preparation is listed in the Slow Food Ark of Taste.
Paste of camembert or brie cheese mashed with butter, paprika and, depending on the recipe, onion, cumin or beer; eaten with bread or a pretzel. A beer‑garden dish from Bavaria, with protected geographical indication since 2015.
Sausage sliced into rounds, topped with tomato sauce and curry powder, served with french fries or bread. The creation of the sauce is attributed to Herta Heuwer, who sold it in Berlin in 1949.
Kale slowly cooked with bacon, served with the smoked sausage Pinkel, smoked pork and potatoes. Bremen’s official portal presents it as the city’s best-known specialty, a winter dish of the Kohlfahrt.
Light, pale beer with top fermentation, served in a thin cylindrical 0.2‑liter glass by the breweries’ waiter, the Köbes. It is a protected geographical indication and may only be made in Cologne and in a few breweries in the region.
Sweet Christmas bread with raisins, candied orange and lemon peel, almonds and plenty of butter, coated with powdered sugar. Mentioned in Dresden since 1474, it has had protected geographical indication status since 2010.
Amber-colored beer, top-fermented with a pronounced bitterness, brewed in Düsseldorf’s brewery-taverns from a mid-19th-century recipe. The city’s tourism promotion presents it as the typical drink of the Altstadt.
Cold sauce of seven chopped fresh herbs with sour cream, served with hard‑boiled eggs and potatoes. The mixture of the seven herbs, grown largely in the Oberrad neighborhood, has protected geographical indication.
Sweet made from fermented, laminated dough with butter, sugar and cinnamon, rolled and pressed until it takes its characteristic flattened shape. Hamburg’s official portal presents it as a specialty of the city.
Little tart of shortcrust pastry filled with marzipan, almonds and a touch of jam or a cherry, with two strips of pastry crossed on top. It replaced the roasted lark, a Leipzig dish until the hunting ban in 1876.
White veal sausage with bacon and parsley, warmed in hot water and served with sweet mustard and a pretzel, traditionally before midday. It is one of Munich’s best-known specialties.
Honey cake with spices, walnuts and almonds, often baked on a thin wafer and covered with chocolate or icing. It has a protected geographical indication since 1996 and may only be made within Nuremberg.
Pork sausages 7 to 9 centimeters long, seasoned with marjoram and grilled, served by the dozen with sauerkraut or inside a roll. They have protected geographical indication since 2003 and may only be made in Nuremberg.
Ball of strips of shortcrust pastry, fried and dusted with confectioners’ sugar, resembling a snowball. Rothenburg ob der Tauber tourism presents it as the city’s regional specialty.
Cake baked in thin layers on a spit that turns in front of a fire; when sliced it shows rings like those of a tree trunk. Made in Salzwedel since the early 19th century, it has been a protected geographical indication since 2010.
Long, thin pork sausage, 15 to 20 centimeters long, seasoned with marjoram, cumin and garlic, grilled over charcoal and eaten in a small roll with mustard. The earliest known mention dates from 1404, and the name has protected geographical indication status since 2004.
