A translator on the pt mailing list (at Yahoo Groups) needs to translate into German a text in which two people argue about whether the drink egg cream contains eggs or cream. (This reminds me of asking the Turkish butcher ‘what are those?’ recently and being told ‘Lammeier’ – I wondered where the nest was). To quote Tony the Tour Guy:

bq. It isn’t made with eggs, or cream. This famous soda fountain concoction was a favorite for many of us, and is currently enjoying a comeback in many restaurants and diners. A mixture of milk, syrup and seltzer water, just how it got its name is one of those things nobody seems to know for sure.

So what would work in German? I could only think of Leberkäse, which is not a drink. It contains neither liver nor cheese, at least in Bavaria it doesn’t. This is reminiscent of the U.S. head cheese.

Suggestions included Alsterwasser, kalter Kaffee, and then a whole list of bizarre names (Blutgeschwür – Advokaat with a shot of cherry brandy, Tote Tante – North Frisian drink of hot cocoa with rum).

But I suppose most cocktails have names like that.

For microscope photos of cocktails, see here.