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Hot (or cold) Christmas drink, what do you drink in your country?

Dunring

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Irish cream or Kona coffee (not the blend) with eggnog instead of cream and sugar.
Green tea with orange blossom honey.
 

Waxx

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Belgium is the land of beer, with a massive amount of different types and brands. The most mainstream is Stella Artois and Jupiler, but for special occasions most beer drinkers will go to the Trappist monks to get the best stuff...

Westvleteren-beer.jpg
orval-1.jpg
Chimays.jpg
IMG_20201219_151447_023_1608570814952.jpg

And i can go on like tha for a while...

But we like all drinks, wine and champange is also hugely popular, just like many strong drinks. But beer is holy down here.
 

Keith_W

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When my Swedish friend was still alive, we used to have Christmas at his parent's place every year. Despite the Australian heat, they would serve glögg. It was delicious, but I could not drink more than a glass unless the air cond was on at full blast. They would follow with a few shots of home brewed brännvin (Schnapps) which their relatives in Sweden would send them every year. The brännvin went surprisingly well with Gravlax and knäckebröd which they bought from IKEA.

But since this is Australia, we typically have beer, white wine, or rosé with Christmas. They MUST be chilled to just above freezing. Since I grew up in Western Australia, the wine of choice is a Semillon - Sauvignon Blanc which we call a "Classic Dry White" over here. It is really cheap but surprisingly fruity and dry.

I have tried many Belgian beers, notably Duvel and Chimay - but I think they are really heavy. They are almost like a complete meal in a bottle, it really fills you up.
 

Waxx

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I have tried many Belgian beers, notably Duvel and Chimay - but I think they are really heavy. They are almost like a complete meal in a bottle, it really fills you up.
Some of them are, especially the darker Trappist beers that are made on very old recipes by monks to finance their abbey. And Duvel, which translate to "devil" in english and not a trappist beer, is also known to be very heavy. And if you're used to beers like Heiniken or Budwiser (that we Belgians find an offence to the title beer), it's true, Belgian beers are heavy in calories and alcohol percentage.

But the daily beer of most belgians are Pilser type of beers, much lighter in any sense than those old traditional beers. Stella Artois and Jupiler (both Belgain from origin but now owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev) are the mainstream pilser brands down here.
 
OP
DanielT

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When my Swedish friend was still alive, we used to have Christmas at his parent's place every year. Despite the Australian heat, they would serve glögg. It was delicious, but I could not drink more than a glass unless the air cond was on at full blast. They would follow with a few shots of home brewed brännvin (Schnapps) which their relatives in Sweden would send them every year. The brännvin went surprisingly well with Gravlax and knäckebröd which they bought from IKEA.

But since this is Australia, we typically have beer, white wine, or rosé with Christmas. They MUST be chilled to just above freezing. Since I grew up in Western Australia, the wine of choice is a Semillon - Sauvignon Blanc which we call a "Classic Dry White" over here. It is really cheap but surprisingly fruity and dry.

I have tried many Belgian beers, notably Duvel and Chimay - but I think they are really heavy. They are almost like a complete meal in a bottle, it really fills you up.
Mulled wine is yummy when it's winter and cold. It warms nicely. Germans have similar , Glühwein, as LTig and tomtoo mentioned in the thread. Solderdude said that Glühwein is also common in the Netherlands.

Gravlax is ridiculously easy to make yourself. After doing it a few times, you have arrived at a reasonable ratio of salt, pepper, dill and sugar that you like the taste of. Here is a recipe::)



For sauce you can mix mustard, a little vinegar, sugar, oil and dill. Whisk together and taste. You can test how much of each ingredient you want in the sauce.:)
 
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DanielT

DanielT

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Some of them are, especially the darker Trappist beers that are made on very old recipes by monks to finance their abbey. And Duvel, which translate to "devil" in english and not a trappist beer, is also known to be very heavy. And if you're used to beers like Heiniken or Budwiser (that we Belgians find an offence to the title beer), it's true, Belgian beers are heavy in calories and alcohol percentage.

But the daily beer of most belgians are Pilser type of beers, much lighter in any sense than those old traditional beers. Stella Artois and Jupiler (both Belgain from origin but now owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev) are the mainstream pilser brands down here.
It must still be one of the most famous things Belgium has? If you ask non-Belgians what Belgium is famous for, I think Trappist beer will be mentioned. :)
More about food and drink from, among other places, Belgium is covered in this thread:


Fascinating history of the creation of Trappist beer::)


 
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LTig

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I have tried many Belgian beers, notably Duvel and Chimay - but I think they are really heavy. They are almost like a complete meal in a bottle, it really fills you up.
I think this was the reason why monks started to brew beer in the first place, to survive the fasting month.
 

Waxx

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I think this was the reason why monks started to brew beer in the first place, to survive the fasting month.
The main reason is to be independent of any lord, that is why they started to look for own sources of income. A lot of abbey's depended on a local count or duke for their financing, the Benedicter Trappist monks did not want that and found their own income in beer and agricultural products like cheese (many of the abbey's also sell their own cheese).

The abbey that makes Chimay is not that old (but build on an older abbey that was destroyed by French Revolutionarist), but others like Westvleteren (since 816, with some interruptions) near the Belgian coast and Orval (since 1131, again with some interruption) in the sourthern part of Belgium are very old abbeys that do this since centuries...

And beer in Belgium is a big market since millenia, long before the country existed. Even the Belgian Celts (called the Belgae) were beer speicalists. When the Germanic tribes from who we decent came here they took that part of the Celtic culture and made it their own...
 
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