If you don't enjoy drinking wine, then, just drink water. French people love water as well, and will often have some fancy mineral water, sparkling (de l'eau pétillante) or still (de l'eau plate) ready for a dinner with guests. It's not customary in France to drink a soda, milk or juices during dinner.
Apéro, short for apéritif, is sacred in France: an hour or so before dinner where you can unwind over a cocktail (or two) and a few snacks. It's not about getting drunk: it's about spending time together and preparing your palate for the meal to follow.
Your drink served before dinner is known as an aperitif while that drink you have after dinner is called a digestif.
In France, cocktails are not usually served with dinner. It is usually just wine and water. So the only time to have a cocktail or another liquor is for an apéritif. It is meant to stimulate the senses and leave you wanting more.
Although table wine, aka still wine, is an all-around popular drink, the French don't hesitate to choose other types of alcoholic beverages, especially for l'heure de l'apéro and as a predinner aperitif drink.
The most popular traditional French aperitif drink is usually pastis, but these days many other drinks have become popular. Kir is a favourite (blackberry cream and white wine), as are drinks designed specifically as aperitifs – like Dubonnet or Vermouth.
Cognac is France's traditional brandy and perhaps the country's best-known liqueur variety worldwide. Named after the Cognac commune in France's south, this drink is made by distilling grapes into eau-de-vie before ageing the mixture.
Caves Byrrh, is the largest producer of wine-based aperitifs in France. Suze is a classic French apéritif which was created in 1885. It is a distillation of the roots of the gentian plant and is rather bitter and earthy but very refreshing. Dubonnet is another classic French apéritif.
Digestifs remain highly popular in France today. A tipple of calvados, cognac or armagnac after a hearty meal is seen as a luxurious way to help the digestive system. At the other end are apéritifs (apéro) such as kir, white wine or pastis that are thought to sharpen the appetite before a meal.
Speaking about spirits, one of the most famous is Cognac. Cognac is popular and loved by the French people, it can be drunk on its own or mixed with a bit of Schweppes. A drink which you can have as an aperitif as much as an after-dinner liqueur.
Many of the best aperitifs include gin, vermouth, or a dry wine. There are also bitters such as Campari and Aperol that have long been used as appetite stimulants on their own.
An aperitivo is a pre-meal drink; the experience of aperitivo is a cultural ritual. Derived from the Latin aperire, the tradition is meant “to open” the stomach before dining. Accordingly, for centuries Italians have said cheers – cin cin – over drinks and appetizers in the early evening hours between work and dinner.
Classic aperitifs include dry vermouth and white wine, fizz and bitter drinks such as Campari. Cocktails including martinis, G&Ts, spritzes and negronis are also great pre-dinner tipples.
Limoncello on its own is categorized as a digestif liqueur, meaning it's meant to be sipped on its own after a meal to aid in digestion. This is how limoncello is commonly used in Italy—after a meal, people stay at the table, either after dessert or during dessert, sharing limoncello and toasting to good health.
After dinner drinks are often referred to as digestifs. Digestif is actually the French word for “digestive,” meaning they are exactly what the name suggests: alcoholic beverages typically served after a meal to aid digestion.
French adults usually drink some kind of coffee for breakfast. However, many of them prefer café au lait, which they often drink in bowls, rather than mugs. Bowls of coffee tend to be an at-home thing.
While tea is becoming more popular in France, it still lags well behind coffee and is very far behind the consumption rates you'll see across the English Channel. Like the British, the French tend to primarily drink black tea varieties.
Even if with globalization, other alcohols have become more popular in France, wine remains the favorite alcohol of the French. Young people tend to consume more beer and strong spirits, while adults and the elderly consume wine daily.
Pretty much any dry alcoholic drink (white wine, vermouth, martini…) or anything fizzy and slightly tart (Prosecco, gin and tonic, Aperol spritz…) is technically classed as an aperitif.
Common choices for an apéritif are vermouth; champagne; pastis; gin; ouzo; fino, amontillado or other styles of dry sherry (but not usually cream or oloroso blended sherry, which is very sweet and rich). An apéritif may be served with an hors d'oeuvre or amuse-bouche, such as crackers, cheese, pâté, quiche or olives.
Some classic aperitifs are Lillet, Vermouth, Dubonnet, Pastis and Campari, although there are many more out there. For the aperitif novice, white Lillet is a lovely way to begin. It has pretty orange blossom aromatics and a mild taste with bits of sweet citrus.