Globecord - Schwip-Schwap: the pinnacle of German soft drink efficiency

On a recent jaunt to Germany I had occasion to visit, from what all appearances was, a typical German supermarket. It was not unlike those found elsewhere, perhaps with more sausagified meats and plenty of chocolate. However, it was not the processed animal products or the sweets that garnered my attention; it was the beverage section. For you see Germans like to do many things different than us New World folk: they prefer lederhosen to jeans, german shepherds to greyhounds and zeppelins to airplanes. Efficiency is their mantra, and no better example can be seen in one of their most popular class of soft drinks that dominated the beverage aisle. So simple, yet so elegant – a triumph of German innovation really. I, of course, speak of the cola-orange combination Schwip-Schwap, a truly worthy addition to the soft drink pantheon.

Schwip-Schwap is, as far as I can tell, a product marketed by PepsiCo, Inc. only in Austria and Germany proper. It is simply a 50-50 mix of Pepsi and some orange flavoured soft drink, likely some knock-off of Fanta. Not alone, this drink competes in a crowded marketplace of cola-orange hybrids including the Coca-Cola Company’s Mezzo Mix, and various other companies' generic Spezi drinks. As seen in the adjacent picture, it is of a dark brown colour, not unlike cola, but with a clearly discernable orange hue. Interestingly, upon opening, it is the orange-like facet of the drink that is most appreciable on the nose; a blind person might mistake it for some sort of Orange Crush. But its taste is truly unique. It really does taste like you imagine, a mixture of cola and orange flavours, each equal in force, synergistically meshing for a pleasant drinking experience. I did find Schwip-Schwap to be perhaps a little too sweet for my taste, however this likely flows from the use of Pepsi, an overly sweet cola in this reviewer’s opinion. Regardless, the combination works quite well, producing a refreshing drink: a similar drinking experience to cola but with a refreshing new twist.

Sure, I must acknowledge that this drink is perhaps unnecessary – purchasing and mixing your own favourite cola and orange soda is a clearly viable option. However, I must say that the Germans are on to something. Think of the many minutes of time that are saved by having the drink pre-mixed at the factory. Multiply those few minutes by the millions of people in Germany that must enjoy this drink and you can now easily see why the Germans are world leaders in productivity. This level of efficiency is as impressive as it is a time saver and something we Canadians should take notice of.

An interesting side note: Fanta, the archetypal orange soft drink was invented by Germans! During World War II, shipments of Coca-Cola syrup dried up forcing the executives at working at the Coca-Cola subsidiary in Germany to come up with something new to service the thirsty masses. The original Fanta was a motley carbonated concoction of the left over material from cider presses and whey from cheese plants but quickly became a hit with war-time Germany (see here for more details). I imagine that it was only natural after the war to mix this new drink with the original favorite, Coke, in an attempt to make some sort of new super drink (or übergetränk). Or perhaps one can imagine that at the end of the war, former foes coming together after a long years of fighting, the Allies with their Coca-Cola and the Germans with their Fanta, and mixing up a new drink for the new era of peace. Regardless of its origins, while I can’t say Schwip-Schwap has surpassed either of its progenitors, it definitely is a tasty drink with a unique and refreshing character of its own. Try, or even make one for yourself today!