Taste on the continent

[alanywiseman.]

Have you noticed how stuff taste different depending on the country you are in?

So I know the chocolate in Saudi Arabia has an agent in it to stop it melting and this impacts on the taste and in the US generally stuff is sweeter. I think that to most people it make sense to produce a product that is to the nations taste.

However i am surprise at the hugh difference in taste of Heni*en in France compared to the UK. FIrstly i had no choice but to drink it. Secondly it has been a very long time since i have had one but it ha a really strong caramel taste and it does not seem as carbonated as the UK stuff.

Has anyone else noticed this?

 

[oldbloke]

Can't say Ive ever drunk Heineken anywhere, but I know many carbonated soft drinks are formulated slightly differently by region. Fanta, for example, is a bit more orangey and slightly less sweet on the continent.

 

[dennisking]

A lot of continental beers are brewed under licence in the UK and are imitations, often weaker, versions.

 

[blackdouglas]

Best to avoid milk chocolate in hot countries, I remember that from India. You can't guarantee you wont get ill from eating it like you generally can here. That could be bollocks, but it's got milk in it, which has a tendency to go off in hot weather.

I once sat outside a cafe in Roermond and drank 3L of Warsteiner pilsner, and at the time I hadn't drunk any beer for months and was just off the back of 2 weeks hard labouring on a building site. It was heavenly.

I like that beer, it's a good German beer, and I used to drink it all the time there. Locality to the brewery also helps, and Roermond is just across the border from Warstein in Germany where it's brewed. That was one the fondest beer experiences of my entire lifetime.

Dutch beer is generally not as good though owing to the quality of the water, but I do recall some places serving Amstel and Heineken on tap that was very palatable.

It depends on how well it's kept as well. I also noticed the wine was better in Holland because it wasn't travelling as far. This is all nothing new.

 

[evanvine]

May be nothing new BD, but still makes a bit of sense!

 

[alanywiseman.]

Milk is a bit different as it is due to how it is processed rather than altering the taste to suit that country but you are probably right BD about the proximity to the brewery.