Spezi, Anyone?

When it's hot like this, I just mainline Diet Cokes. And when I've had my limit of caffeine for the day (something people tell me as opposed to something I figure out all on my own), I switch to lemonade.

But I never really thought about mixing the Coke and lemonade together. Maybe it's because I really hated the canned lemon coke that came out several years back. To me it tastes like lemon Pledge smells.

Or maybe it's because of one of those colorful "Depression-era" stories my mother was so fond of telling . You know those "making do" stories that parents raised in that era told (and embroidered just a teensy bit) so we lazy 70's teenagers would know how easy we had it?

Her story was her family couldn't afford soft drinks for all six kids, so Grandpa, as a special treat, would mix one or two bottles of Coke (actually I think it was RC Cola) into a pitcher of lemonade to stretch out the cola.

I felt so sorry for her.

Three years ago, I visited a friend in Bavaria. The trip included a visit to Crazy King Ludwig's castle in the Alps (the one on which Cinderella's Disney castle is based). Now that castle is way in the hell up in the sky. So the first thing you want to do after hiking your ass up there is find something to drink. At the concession stand that someone obviously saner than Ludwig was thoughtful enough to provide, you will find a revelation: a drink called Spezi -- a mixture of lemonade and Coke.

Turns out Spezi is a very popular beverage all over Germany and, in fact, in many parts of Europe. In Bavaria, it is made with an orange lemonade while in northern Germany it's more of the traditional lemonade. It's not bad -- especially if you can find carbonated lemonade (or orangeade) as they have in Europe. I make mine with regular lemonade and Diet Coke. For a more authentic Bavarian touch, try mixing the Coke with Fanta orange soda.

For the record, I never really believed Mama's"walking to school in the snow" story either. I mean, hello, I was raised in Biloxi, too. I'm saying.