Try it, I think you might like it. I did. And i've tried the "real" stuff. Plenty of times.

I was intrigued and excited when I saw this, as decent ham is not available here in Cambodia, and this would have been another chance to buy it and bring it over.

But ouch! their quoted prices are around $1200 for a leg of iberico de bellota! At that rate, I'll stick with the occasional trip to a neighborhood charcuteria near Madrid, getting them to pack and wrap a ham, and then sticking it in the luggage...

- Michael

[QUOTE=Counsellor;8582038]Things from Europe I miss when in the States:

- True fresh draft Guinness! (They have something in the States that looks sort of like it, but it doesn't taste like the "real stuff".)

- Czech Budweiser.

Original (Czech) Budweiser is sold in the US as Czechvar, in smaller bottles at twice the price. It's better than nothing. Sorry, I can't help with the Guinness.

lindemans beer from belgium. yumm!

[QUOTE=Willytx;8585129]Thanks. I'll have to look for it.

Actually, the Anheuser-Busch product is the "original Budweiser" if by "original" you mean the first to use the name.

The city in which the Budwar brewery operates (České Budějovice) was called "Budweis" in German and A-B used the location as the basis for the name ("Budweiser" meaning "from Budweis, or in the Budweis style") to make it seem as though their "Budweiser" product was similar to the old Bohemian beer (sort of like calling a beer "Munich Beer" as a brand name to make it seem like Bavarian beer)*. Only later (after 1900 as I recall, although the information is on the Internet somewhere) did the brewery in Bohemia begin using the same brand name.

The Bohemian variety tastes much better than the American version, in my opinion. :D

* They were still at it in the 1950s and 60s, when they brought out their "Busch" brand. It's original name was "Busch Bavarian".

Addendum: Oh where are the beers of yesteryear?

From my youth I recall Edelweiss, Blatz ("A case of good judgment"), and Atlas Prager ("Bitter-free lager: buy it by the case; no bitter after-taste") which like A-B's Budweiser did not come from the Czech city from which it took its name. And need we talk about the many Pilsner beers that never saw Plzeň?

[QUOTE=Counsellor;8586093]
We always called it "Busch Barbarian" ;)

Well, having waayyy too much time on my hands, I decided to dig a bit further into the Budweiser story. I remembered I had done something similar soon after this Board stood up, and after a quick "search" I found it:

Early thread.

In a nutshell, Anheuser-Busch introduced their Budweiser in 1876 and apparently trademarked it soon thereafter. The České Budějovice brewery (Czech Share Brwery, later Budvar) that later began using the Budweiser brand name wasn’t even founded until 1895, nearly 20 years later, and the brewery first registered a trademark somewhere around 1911.

Interesting links:

History of the CZ Budweiser.

History of Anheuser-Busch.

Tim Tams in Oz
Dried Mango from the Philippines

And to help me later, there are these antacids I found in HK that I can't get here. I just used my last one the other day, I could cry.

Oh and KMHT FF, Fanny Farmer Chocolates becomes even more entertaining when you remember that in the UK, the "fanny" refers to the front end, not the back.

From Oz: Bundaberg rum. It was very good to me while I was down there. ;)


Oh, a note for the coke with sugar fans: It is also made with sugar in Mexico. For the past year or so Costco has carried cases of it in and around California. They were IIRC ~$18 for 24 bottles.

The Czechs are a bit funny with the history of pre Czecho-slovakia enterprises. Die Budweiser Bräuberechtigten-Bürgerliches Bräuhaus was formed in 1795 under AUSTRIAN law. The Czechs are following a (rewritten) history of beer making in České Budějovice (Budweis). Budweiser was originally a generic term referring to the type of beer and where it was made, not the factory. Pilsner is another example. The biggest differences are that regional varieties were not protected names, and that an American company used the name Budweiser, not Pilsner or something else. Regional protection if very big in the EU now. That's why you will never see a German or Italian champagne in the EU. To top it all off, there is more than one original Budweiser. Budějovický Měšťanský Pivovar is still brewing a beer named Budweiser. Other local breweries have been bought out, turned into soda factories, scrapped or otherwise shut down.

Instead of trying to rehash two world wars and American corporate lawyers, I say go to České Budějovice and have a beer. The Czechs say it's Czech, the Germans say it's German. Just hand me a glass.

EU/Schengen: L'Oreal Elvital leave-in hair conditioner
France: Cheap mustard -- much zippier than when bought in the US
Scotland: Small-distillery single malts (I'm thinking of Poit Dubh)
Scandinavia: zinc/echinaciae/vitamin-C lozenges

I'm sure to think of more...

As for food - Fazer chocolate when in Finland

A must trans-atlantic stop is Marks and Spencer to buy double cuff all coton dress shirts that don't cost an arm and a leg. They used to have stores in Canada (and Germany when flying through there), but they seem to have shut most of them (all of them in Canada).

The M&S website has been saying for three years that they will take international orders soon.

My friends in far off places usually ask me to bring peanut butter (Jif or Kraft)

I have seen it in New York's Grand Central Station on 42nd Street. There is this long store will all these little stands and there is one meat store (all the German stuff) that also sells other German food products. I even remember seeing Jacobs coffee there. So if you are in NY more often than in Germany, this might be the place to go for you.

Missing in Europe:

I just received from a friend the wide Johnson & Johnson dentotape from the US. Can't find any thick floss over here in Germany.

Missing in the US:

Sorry I know it's the land of chewing gum but why does it loose it's taste after two minutes already? Why don't you have some nice "AIRWAVES" chewing gum from Europe?

Also, I don't care that much for COKE but the best Pepsi I ever had was in the UK. There was something different than in all the countries I drank it before or afterwards, it was just way better.

I guess people who travel a lot have a long list of stuff that is the best in different countries and they are used to that. It would be so easy to make a really long list.

On my annual trip to the states I take the following to my son who lives in COS, CO:

Cherry Ripes (confectionary)
Violet Crumbles (confectionary)
Vegemite (spread)
Red Skins (confectionary)

My ex-boss in PIT who lived in Australia for a while always gets me to bring:

Tim Tams (biscuits ie cookies) - Arnotts brand and definitely not generic
Chicken flavoured potato chips (crisps)
Red Skins (confectionary)
Nyal cold and Flu tablets - available in supermarkets in Australia - I think they are herbal

Not necessary. In the U.S. if you go to the counter and supply your driver's license, the original is still available.....even at Walmart.