Germans are trolling Greece with ‘Grexit’ vodka cocktails
The drink label shows the Greek prime minister and finance minister toasting to Greece's exit from the euro zone.
BERLIN, Germany — Some drink to celebrate. Others drink for consolation. But a German beverage maker has both parties covered with Grexit, a new liquor whose launch coincides with Greece’s deadline to make a payment on its debts or else exit the euro zone.
German entrepreneur Uwe Dahlhoff secured the rights to the name for his lemon-vodka spirit in January in anticipation of the drama that’s unfolding as Greece’s creditors — led by German Chancellor Angela Merkel — put pressure on Athens to pay a $1.8 billion bill or go into default.
While Dahlhoff himself hopes Greece makes its payment, he sees humor in the situation, too.
“Some people are satirizing the situation in pint and on TV,” he said. “I’m doing it on a bottle.”
Sketches of the Grexit label show Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and his finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, clinking bottles while a dejected and blue-faced Merkel looks on.
But Dahlhoff understands that not everyone finds the potential economic uncertainty to be a laughing matter or an occasion for a drink.
“Lots of people understand that it is supposed to be satirical,” Dahlhoff said. “But naturally there are people who can’t take a joke.”
Other political alcohol ventures of Dahlhoff’s include “Helmut’s Pear,” a fruit liqueur, and “Erich’s Revenge,” an herb-infused drink, that reference the portly ex-German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and the disgraced former leader of communist East Germany, Erich Honecker.
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Grexit is now sold exclusively in Germany, but Dahlhoff hopes to expand. Guess where.
“If I found a Greek distributor or importer, naturally we would go to Greece,” he said.
Luckily, Greeks can also mix comedy with tragedy.
The head of the Tsipras’ Syriza Party in the German state of Hesse, Papadimitriou Theofanis, said that he wished Dahlhoff nothing but the best, despite the severity of the situation in his native country.
“The Greeks were the first to understand dark humor,” Theofanis said. “We are the ones who invented satire.”
Regardless of whether or not Greece leaves the euro zone, Duhlhoff plans to start selling the spirit at the end of the month, saying that Grexit will stay whether or not European leaders resolve the crisis.