Tag Archives: Olympics 2014

Drinking Around the World With the Winter Olympics: Germany

Cocktails / February 19, 2014 / No Comments.

For the fourth part of our ongoing series during the Winter Olympics, we’re going to look at the luge and a country that’s been dominating it: Germany. Germany grabbed gold for their luge skills in the men’s and women’s singles and doubles, as well as the team relay event.

Luge made its debut at the Innsbruck Olympic Winter Games in 1964 and it is definitely one of the most dangerous Olympic winter sports; luge involves sliding at high speeds on single or two-person sleds on a special track of artificially frozen ice. The sleds have been known to reach speeds of up to 140 km/hour (that’s almost 87 mph), so crashing definitely doesn’t feel very good.

When most people think of drinking in Germany, they automatically think of beer – and with good reason. It’s the home of the original Oktoberfest, after all. However, Germany is about more than just beer and according to recent reports, beer consumption is actually steadily decreasing in the country. So what else could Germans be drinking while supporting their country’s gold medal-winning lugers? We like to think they’re trying to warm up with one of their classic hot cocktails.

One hot drink in Germany is Buttergrog, which sounds like a mythical drink from Harry Potter or something. Grog really just refers to a type of boozy drink or punch and the name itself goes back to the 1600s. Buttergrog is usually served around Christmas, but we think the Olympics are also a good time to warm up with something yummy. Ingredients include apple cider, maple syrup, salted butter, vanilla brandy or rum, citrus peel, cloves and cinnamon.

Eierpunsch is another hot cocktail and it’s basically the German version of eggnog (but better). The biggest differentiator is that their recipe calls for the addition of white wine. It also uses egg yolks, whole eggs, lemon juice, water, rum and sugar.

Although beer is not as popular in Germany right now, it is still the biggest alcoholic drink in the country. So, if the German Olympics supporters aren’t knocking back one of these warm cocktails, there’s a good chance they’re imbibing in a delicious, cold beer.

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Drinking Around the World With the Winter Olympics: South Korea

Our Stories / February 15, 2014 / No Comments.

In the third part of our Olympic series, we’re taking a look at South Korea and the sport of curling. Curling is that random sport no one truly seems to understand, but it’s been getting a lot more press during these Olympic games. I guess we’re all just fascinated by a sport that combines ice, and giant stone, and a big broom.

In the past, South Korea’s curling team has struggled with major lack of funding and respect in general. However, after they finished in the top four at the World Women’s Curling Championships last March, things started to look up for the former outcasts. They got professional gear, more money, insurance and Korea’s biggest retail company Shinsegae pledged 10 billion won until 2018 for the development of Korean curling (the 2018 Olympic Winter Games will be in South Korea’s Pyeongchang).

So far, South Korea’s curling team has had a pretty decent performance in the games, but it doesn’t seem they’ll be able to catch the leader, Canada. The country still has a lot to celebrate, however, and we’re sure a lot of that will include drinking.

Just a few days ago, we read a story on TIME’s website that reported according to a global marketing research firm, South Koreans are the world’s biggest consumers of hard liquor; each person average’s 11.2 shots a week. Most people usually think of Russia as being the leading country, and while they do come in second place, their average shot consumption is 5 shots a week. The article does make sure to note that although the difference between 11.2 and 5 shots is huge, South Korea’s liquor, Soju, which accounts for 97 percent of the country’s sales is only half the alcohol percentage of vodka. That definitely evens the playing field a little bit.

Considering all of those shots, we wanted to tell you about something called Haejangguk, a Korean hangover cure. Knowing how much the South Koreans are drinking, it’s only natural that they have a well-known hangover cure as well, right?

Haejangguk translates to “soup to chase a hangover” and it refers to all kinds of soups that are used to treat your weekend morning headaches in Korea. According to TriFood.com, it usually consists of dried napa cabbage, congealed ox blood and various vegetables in a hearty beef broth.

Okay, they lost us at congealed ox blood.

We’ll let the South Koreans stick to haejangguk to chase away the hangover blues and we’ll stick to going through the Burger King drive-thru at 10am.

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Drinking Around the World With the Winter Olympics: Norway

Beer / February 11, 2014 / 1 Comment.

As the winter Olympics continue in Sochi, Russia, we also continue with our series dedicated to some of the top medal contending countries and their awesome drinking cultures. We began the series last week with the United States and today we’re paying tribute to Norway.

Norway means business when it comes to the winter Olympics. They are the most successful nation in winter Olympic history, both in terms of medals won and gold medals won. This means that there are very few sports that they don’t dominate, but their top overall sport is definitely skiing. In fact, retired Norwegian cross-country skiier Bjorn Daehlie holds the record for most career winter Olympic medals, winning 12 medals from 1992 through 1998; Michael Phelps from the U.S. holds the record for the summer Olympics.

So, what are the Norwegians drinking while they cheer on their country in the winter Olympics? There’s a good chance many of them are knocking back some Carlsberg or Ringnes beer.

Carlsberg-Ringnes is the major beer company for Norway and Denmark; the Ringnes portion is based in Norway and the Carlsberg portion is in Denmark. Ringnes AS is the largest brewery in Norway, employing 1600 workers, and it was founded in 1876. Ringnes Pils is Norway’s leading pilsner beer and it gets its golden color from the use of pilsner malt. It has a clean taste with a light and dry malt sweetness, a slight note of fruit and well balanced amount of hops.

Although Carlsberg is made in Denmark and Ringnes is made in Norway, it seems that the lines have blurred somewhere over the years. For example, at Walt Disney World’s Epcot, visiting “Norway” used to mean you’d be able to purchase a Ringnes beer. However, in recent years, the Ringnes was phased out and replaced with Carlsberg (much to some Norwegians’ chagrin).

Whether a Norwegian Olympic team supporter chooses to grab a Ringnes or a Carlsberg, one thing is for sure: they’re probably going to be saying “Cheers” to many more gold medals.

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2014 Olympics Drinking Game

Our Stories / February 7, 2014 / 2 Comments.

Every two years, we get to watch the most talented athletes in the world compete for the chance at a gold medal. Tonight marks the opening ceremony (well technically it’s going on right now in Sochi) and we plan on watching with a beverage in hand. We’ve put together a drinking game to keep your buzz going during the opening ceremonies and start Sochi 2014 the right way.

Take a drink when a new country is introduced. Pace yourself.
Take two sips every time they announce a country you didn’t know existed. This should only happen once (or twice).
Fill up your cup every time they show the Team USA uniforms. It’s going to look like an ugly sweater party in Sochi.
Take a sip every time they show the Olympic torch.
Take a shot when they show the Jamaican Bobsled team. Rocking a winter sport from a tropical island can’t be easy.
Take a shot when the opening ceremony gets weird – it’s bound to happen.
Refill your drink every time they show Putin looking pissed off.
Take a shot every time you hear the words “Flying Tomato.”
Crack open a beer any time you see an athlete taking a selfie or filming themselves.
Finish your drink when they light the Olympic Cauldron.

Sochi is bound to be a blast. If you know how to celebrate the Olympics, you’ll be watching with a drink in hand. Let the games begin.

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