Last night I had dinner in an old-world German restaurant called Silver Swan, which has plenty of German beers, schnitzel and spaetzle on the menu. The food was surprisingly good, and the atmosphere was surprisingly cozy. For some reason, at the end of the meal our waitress offered us an after-dinner drink on the house. Obviously, we couldn't pass that up. Ordinarily I don't like overly sweet drinks (except for Bailey's, but that's another story), but I had skipped dessert, so my sweet tooth was calling. I randomly chose the Echte Kroatzbeere, a traditional German blackberry liqueur. I was worried that it would be super harsh, like a fiery grappa or Greek ouzo, but again, another surprise -- it had an intense blackberry flavor and was fairly sweet, without any brash alcohol burn or syrupy, cloying taste. In fact, it was delicious. I'd definitely order it again; it's probably best when slightly chilled, or over a little bit of ice.