Slovenia

In proper Slovene style, all bases are covered for drinks and you can get very good Slovenian beers, wines and spirits. Tap water is generally drinkable.

coffee and tea

In Slovenia, coffee kava usually means a tiny cup of strong Turkish coffee, and cafes kavarna are a common sight with a basic cup costing €1.00-€1.50. One can also order coffee with milk kava z mlekom or whipped cream kava s smetano. Coffee culture is wide-spread in Slovenia, and one can see Slovenes with friends sitting in the same café for hours. Tea čaj is nowhere near as popular, and if they do drink it mostly in the winter, Slovenes prefer all sorts of fruit-flavored and herbal teas over a basic black cup. Tea is served with honey and lemon by request.

spirits

A Slovene brandy known as žganje or colloquially šnops, not unlike the Hungarian palinka, can be distilled from almost any fruit. Medeno žganje also known as medica has been sweetened with honey. Vodka is, as in most of Slavic nations, also very popular, especially among the youger generation.

wine

Despite what you might think if you've ever sampled an exported sickly sweet Riesling, Slovenian wine vino can be quite good — they keep the best stuff for themselves. Generally, the GoriÅ¡ka brda region produces the best reds and the drier whites in a more Italian/French style, while the Å tajerska region produces the best semi-dry to sweet whites, which cater more to the German/Austrian-type of palate. Other local specialities worth sampling are Teran, a very dry red from the Kras region, and Cviček, a red so dry and light it's almost a rosé. Wine is usually priced and ordered by the decilitre deci, pronounced "de-tsee", with a deci around one euro and a normal glass containing about two deci.

beer

Beer pivo is the most popular tipple and the main brands are Laško and Union. Adam Ravbar beer is good quality and is usually hard to find anywhere except in their small brewery located in Domžale, a town about 10 km north of Ljubljana. A bottle or jug will cost you €2.50 in a pub pivnica. Ask for veliko large for 0.5L and malo small for 0.3L. Also try "Union Radler Grapefruit".