Mochi, Pink Drink, Raffaello Ice Cream These are the summer trends in Germany for 2021
Berlin · This summer will be the second one where we are living with the pandemic - but it might be a bit more relaxed and offer some tasty treats. Here’s a look at some trends for this summer like Mochi ice cream and coconut praline ice cream on a stick.
Of course, many just want to enjoy the typical summer activities: going to a beer garden, a lake, barbecuing, eating ice cream, drinking an Aperol Spritz or a gin and tonic. Last year, cookie dough by the spoonful and Dalgona Coffee were the big crowd pleasers.
What do you need to know this year to be on top of the latest trends? Here’s a look at what’s hot in the summer of 2021.
ICE CREAM SHOPS: In his album “Popmusik”, Rainald Grebe has a song about ice cream. He sings about how it used to cost 20 cents and today five Deutschmarks; he goes on about "ice cream dealers" and exaggerates about the weirdness of some varieties: "Matcha Earl Grey," "Horse Chestnut Rosemary," “Horsemeat-Licorice," "Tannenzäpfle Beer Sorbet," "Activated Carbon Ice with Liquid Nitrogen”. While those varieties may be fictitious, what’s true is this: new varieties become the trend each and every year. In 2021, the Uniteis association named the fruity and spicy "Mango-Chili" ice cream of the year.
FROM THE FREEZER: The Mövenpick brand launched "Blackcurrant Yogurt" as "Our Ice Cream of the Year” in grocery stores. And Ferrero came out with Raffaello (coconut-almond praline) and Rocher (praline with wafer, nougat cream and hazelnut) ice cream on a stick - mimicking two of its popular candies. The Italian company's familiar scarcity is leaving many ice cream shelves quickly empty.
SWEETS: "Waffle and Mochi" is the name of a Netflix children's cooking show starring Michelle Obama. Mochi is an artisan ice cream ball wrapped in soft rice dough. Since last year, the Mochi ice cream "Little Moons" has been available in Germany. It combines Japanese and Italian styles, with soft rice dough encasing ice cream. The gluten-free ice cream balls can be found in more and more supermarkets.
DELIVERY SERVICES: The pandemic has given delivery services a major boost. Lieferando, the market leader in take-out food delivery, is now expanding its business to include grocery delivery. In some metropolitan areas, competition is already raging to see who can get goods to city dwellers the fastest. Services such as Gorillas and Flink send bicycle couriers through the streets and promise - thanks to small warehouses in the city centers - to deliver fruit or barbecue food within ten minutes. The Dax company Delivery Hero also wants to get in on the action. In the summer of 2021, there will be more and more apps that deliver ready-made meals and supermarket goods.
SUN PROTECTION: Anyone who isn’t worried about their corona kilos and dares to go out in the sun in a swimsuit should apply good sunscreen. Stiftung Warentest, which tests merchandise for German consumers, recently found that the price of sunscreens is by no means the decisive factor for quality: The drugstore chain dm ("Sundance Sonnenmilch") came out on top. Rossmann ("Sunozon Sonnenmilch"), Edeka ("Elkos Sun Sonnenmilch") and Aldi ("Ombra Sun Ultra Sensitive Sonnencreme") did very well in the testing.
PINK DRINK: On TikTok and Instagram, many users share the flashy pink drink, which is an eye-catcher. The recipe for the Pink Drink is simple. Ice cubes, frozen berries (most commonly strawberries, but also raspberries or blackberries), then add three-quarters hibiscus flower tea, or maybe hibiscus flower syrup, and then pour in a coconut drink as an alternative to dairy milk.
ALCOHOL: For the German magazine "Gala," the mint julep is one of the "trendy drinks of the year”. It is making a well-deserved comeback. It consists of just a few ingredients: Whisky, sugar syrup, mint. Connoisseurs drink the cocktail in style from an ice-cold silver cup.
GRILL: In the Covid era without open restaurants, many people acquired new kitchen appliances. Besides the Thermomix or even hot-air fryers, contact grills are in for 2021, for example the Tefal Optigrill. With sensors and lights, it indicates when burgers, sandwiches, sausages or fish are just right. With steaks, it shows whether it is rare, medium or well-done. The flashing and beeping make the grill feel like a science fiction spaceship.
FASHION: For Vogue, fashion trends for this summer include ultra-short miniskirts, (nautical) fishnet looks, white dresses, floral patterns and, as before, the bralet. For men, neon yellow, but also pastel colors and wide pants are recommended, as well as, of course, bermudas: gradually, he said, shorts have become longer and wider again. ""Above the knee" is the most current length to wear at the moment."
PERFUME: The luxury industry likes to play on longings, and during these pandemic times, it’s about longing to travel. A new unisex perfume from Louis Vuitton is called "On The Beach" and attempts to capture the feeling of sun on the skin and sand between the toes with the scent of citrus fruit yuzu, bitter orange neroli, thyme and rosemary, among others. The Dior brand dedicates an equally expensive fragrance to a magical place in the south of France: the "Eden-Roc" near Cannes. 90 years ago, Erika Mann and Klaus Mann considered this luxury hotel with its large garden and rock pool to be the best place on the Côte d'Azur in their "Book of the Riviera”.
(Orig. text: Gregor Tholl, dpa / Translation: Carol Kloeppel)
