Corsica has some really good, award-winning wines, but I thought I could enlighten you on some other drinks you’ll find on the island.
Corsican beer
Yes, there is beer in Corsica! And it’s good, according to connoisseurs. Pietra, the most famous one, is a beer made from Corsican chestnut flour, Serena is a blonde ale of 100% pure malt and Colomba is a white beer made from various Mediterranean plants.
Mouss’or and Liptonic
Mouss‘or is a Corsican soda that tastes like apple and caramel. This is the drink of our childhood, the one you had in your picnic basket when you went to the beach or to the river. Both Mouss’or and for some reason also Liptonic, the Lipton ice tea, are very popular in Corsica. They are the non-alcoholic party drinks of my childhood and teenage years. This is what we drunk when we were 13 and trying to get a good taste in our mouth before exchanging our first French kiss with a boy /girl at the village party. They taste like long lost innocence!
Here is where you can buy some Mouss‘or
Myrtle liquor
That’s for adults only, and not for the faint of heart. Myrtle liquor is made from the myrtle berries, a common Mediterranean plant. It can be from 25 to 35 degrees strong. After a heavy Corsican meal of pulenda and chestnut cakes, it can ease your digestion. On an empty stomach, it’s a good method to become fluent in Corsican and a proficient polyphonic singer. Works every time!
Corsica Colis
Corsica-cola
There was already Mecca Cola, now there is also Corsica Cola, the Corsican version of Coca Cola. The recipe is a secret, of course.
But Coca Cola is originally Corsican anyways! Indeed, a Corsican chemist, Angelo Mariani, invented a tonic wine in 1863 from coca leaves and wine. It had a tremendous success and the happy chemist implemented his business in the United States under the name “French wine Cola”. In 1885, Doctor Pemberton in Atlanta made the non-alcoholic version, and you know the rest!
Orezza, Zilia and Saint Georges
Those are the Corsican bottled mineral waters. Zilia and Saint Georges are still waters. Orezza is sparkling; instead of asking for a glass of sparkling water, most people will just directly ask for “an Orezza, please”. Saint Georges bottles were designed by French designer Philippe Starck, they are quite elegant !
Where can I begin to learn pronunciation.. for instance Ajaccio? like the Italian? Ah-ya-chio?
Ah Jack-io? whee can I find the basic Hello, Thank you, where is? How much is? Good Bye.. etc. I have a year to become familiar.. Thanks.
Hello! in corsican Ajaccio is Aiacciu, pronounced like the italian, Ah ya chioo (im not sure how to spell phonetically for an english speaker). IN french its pronounced A Jack sio ( but the J of Jack is not pronounced like in English, in English you have a kind of D sound at first, it’s more like DJ, in french it’s just J).
if you want to learn corsican there are some websites, however they are mostly made for french native speakers. Bear in mind that the official language is french and everybody speaks french, and there are lots of french mainlanders working in corsica. The local language is unfortunately not as widespread as it used to be, as france is a state that does not accept local differences and they tried everything they could to make it disappear. In this link you ll find a list of links to websites that teach corsican https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7wPGqDhkJuDWmFkekx4cWlMQ0E/view . This is the website it comes from http://ampargualinguacorsa.blogspot.fr/
I hope this helps.