I watched a music festival last night. Some high school students organized a three nights rock festival in Chania (Two Festival) and school groups around Greece threw their voices expressing their anxieties, aspirations and expectations. And there were some great voices, indeed.
Here is the cantina for the service of festival’s visitors. Orange juice and carbonated soft drinks: coca cola (of course), carbonated lemon and orange juice and biral, though these are not the only drinks available. There was also beer. Alcohol consumption among teenagers is an emerging problem in Greece, however during this festival most teens drunk refreshments and water.
Biral is a carbonated soft drink available since 1928. At that year a Cretan immigrant to USA returned to his village and at his back yard he created his first carbonated drinks.
For a kid born in the 50s or 60s few things were so delicious as biral. This brown colored refreshment is made with caramel and has a sweet childish taste. Now I find it too sweet, but when I was kid I adored it. Anyway, it is a perfect drink to go along with salted sunflower seeds and summer (open air) cinemas. Yes, during summer the Greeks go to open air cinemas and while watching the film they chew sunflower or pumpkin seeds and drink biral.
and i forgot to say, my favorite is gazoza!
i feel the same way about biral – i used to drink it when i first came out to Greece, but i find it too sweet. children’s’ tastes have also changed: i was hoping my children would also enjoy biral, but they also find it too sweet.