A shandy

There are a number of alcoholic ciders available in Ireland -- Bulmers comes to mind.

Bob

Italian_Chauffeur wrote: "There are a number of alcoholic ciders available in Ireland -- Bulmers comes to mind."

All ciders in Ireland contain alcohol. Whether or not Bulmer's is a proper cider is a question for debate (but it does contain alcohol).

In france they call cider "cidre" and they call Perry something equally french which aludes me at this senior moment.

In both UK, Ireland and France cider is alcoholic as a norm.

In France the taste is as if made from boiled apples which makes me think they have done that to part of the brew to extract more sugar.

Then as someone mentioned the whole issue is the difference between homogenised Bulmers or equivelent and scrumpy. I would expect scrumpy to be the same word in Ireland and for the French to merely diffentiate cidre into A/C cidre

bozama.. In case one of your travels will bring you to Munich.. since 2007, you will get Bulmers cider in almost every other pub or bar in town. Just under the name of "Magners". Also available at the coastal tourist destinations of Spain. And quite refreshing, indeed.

Whether or not Bulmers/Magners qualifies as a proper cider will depend on your taste. Some people like it, others not. Just like some people think that Guinness is a proper stout (running for cover).

bdjtbenson,

I don't know of anyone who orders/serves tea (or hot drink for that matter) in a pub.

W9London wrote: "I don't know of anyone who orders/serves tea (or hot drink for that matter) in a pub."

It's very common in Ireland, particularly during the daytime. As I said earlier, some pubs don't serve hot drinks in the evenings when they are busy.

oh yep, I've never gotten a odd look ordering a cuppa from a pub.

This may be a stupid question, but any chance of getting decaf tea in Ireland? I can't have caffine.

traveling wrote: "This may be a stupid question, but any chance of getting decaf tea in Ireland? I can't have caffine."

Not much. But if you bring your own teabags, they will happily prepare a brew using them.

I bet there is decaf, but to be safe bring some bags with you. When I travel here in the States, I always take my bags of Barry's tea. As for your post about drinking in pubs, I don't drink and I've never found it a problem to order a soft drink of some kind.
Enjoy your trip, Joan

What are the chances of getting decaf coffee? (not instant)

traveling asked: "What are the chances of getting decaf coffee?"

Mixed. Any place that does a good volume of coffee will almost certainly have it. Many pubs, however, do not sell that much coffee.

The coffee craze has HIT Ireland hard - I don't see a lot of non-instant still in pubs...but certainly in restaurants and cafes (and yes, now even coffee shops - even outside the cities you can now drink a cappuccino!)

Any grocery store will have decaf tea (although I've never seen anyone buy it except myself!) Even Irish (Lyons anyway) tea comes in decaf...so you can always bring your own tea bag (BTW-my Irish relatives and friends ALWAYS travel with their tea bags (!!) and nobody in Ireland would think it is at all odd to be travelling with tea bags...it is considered a necessity. We drink Barrys in my home (becasue that's what is easy for us to get in the US...so my in-laws arrive with their Lyons bags!!)

Ireland has very strict drinking and driving laws, so there is always at least one person in every group that isn't drinking.No one will pass any comment. He can have bottled water, soft drink and pubs most always serve tea and now coffee. Finding decaf coffee or tea is not a sure bet anywhere in Europe. Irish tea is much stronger than what we have in the US, and when you find de-af tea it is much strong (and has more caffine) than US decaf tea.

My husband doesn't drink for medical reasons and he had a wonderful time spending time in the pubs during our Ireland trip last year. He enjoyed the live music, pub food and general atmosphere. He never said that it would've been better if he could drink. I hope you have the same experience!

Most of the Irish are a bunch of drunks, it's a worldwide reputation. They'll be too drunk to notice anyone's not drinking, don't worry.

ronnie, you are an ornament to Texas and an embarrassment to America.

Apparently ronnie had tipped a few when he made that comment. Did you forget the smiley face ronnie?

I do not think that it will seem unusual to go into a pub and ask for a non-alcoholic drink....I have virtually given up drinking...Why? It's because I help to run a business and you need a really clear head to work out all the accounts,customer queries,etc.And people spend too much time in pubs in Glasgow....There is a lot of problem drinking in this city..It is almost part of the culture of the place to drink heavily...