I was introduced to apple wine (in German apfelwein, but known locally as ebbelwoi) on my very first evening in Frankfurt. It was an experience, to say the least! A packed pub, various ways to order the drink, a less-than-friendly waiter – an eye-opener all round!

Eight years later and I think I’ve got it sussed.

First things first, you need to pick a pub. I’d suggest heading to Sachsenhausen, a district on the south side of the river, away from the centre, where you’ll have the biggest choice of apple wine specialists. Two of the most well-known are Apfelwein Wagner and Zum Gemalten Haus. These large taverns are often packed and noisy, but lively and fun. If you’d prefer something a little smaller and less hectic, check out Zum Eichkatzerl, Apfelwein DAX or Zum Feuerrädchen. Whichever one you pick, though, expect a traditional atmosphere and lots of wood!

When you’re deciding where to go, note that not all places will take a reservation if you’re just a small group. As the traditional seating style is long, shared tables with benches, they may say they’ll just fit you in somewhere. To be fair, it’s always worked for me so far – and sharing your table with strangers is often a sociable, entertaining affair.

So finally the moment comes: you’re sat at a table ready for a nice glass of ebbelwoi – but how do you order it? Bearing in mind that it can be rather tart? There are three popular choices: straight (pur), mixed with sparkling water (sauer gespritzt) or mixed with lemonade (süß gespritzt). Some purist establishments refuse to serve the sweetened variety, though – and you may be judged if you try to order it!

Most servings are in a 0.3-litre, diamond-patterned glass called a Geripptes. If a few of you are drinking, you could order a Bembel. This is a grey ceramic jug adorned with distinctive blue detailing, which holds a larger amount. You order a Bembel based on how many 0.3-litre glasses of pure apple wine it contains. So a vierer Bembel would contain four 0.3-litre servings, an achter Bembel eight servings. You can then order sparkling water or lemonade to go with it.

A final heads up: if the waiting staff are not that friendly, don’t take it personally – it’s pretty common, it’s not just you. So long as the ebbelwoi and conversation are flowing, good times are sure to be had by all!

Let’s face it, Frankfurt is not really a buzzing, touristy city. Most visitors are struck by the gleaming towers, scurrying office workers, and the rather down-at-heel area around the main railway station. The museum embankment – Museumsufer – alongside the river is active, well organised and innovative, and there are a couple of good riverside places for an evening drink. But if you didn’t know about Sachsenhausen, you could be forgiven for coming away with the impression that the city emptied of people after office hours.

Recreation in Frankfurt is not just about the joggers on the banks of the Main and the art on the walls of the museums. If you keep on walking from the east end of the Museumsufer and deviate a little inland, you’ll eventually reach Sachsenhausen, a refuge from commerce where the atmosphere is always one of quiet celebration.

Whether you’ll have a good experience with Ebbelwoi may depend on the time of year

Sachsenhausen is to this city what the East End is to London; traditionally, the Frankfurter cockneys live here, but instead of eating jellied eels, pie and mash, they sit down at long open-air tables to tuck into Handkäs with Musik (hard cheese with chopped onions, aka Musik because of the flatulence they produce), or even Grüne Soße (curd cheese with finely chopped onions and green sauce made up of seven different types of herb) eaten with eggs and potatoes, all of it washed down with Ebbelwoi (apple wine).

Bars and restaurants are jammed cheek-by-jowl into Old Sachsenhausen’s narrow, pedestrian-only streets, particularly around Grosse Rittergasse, Kleine Rittergasse and Paradiesgasse. Most of these establishments are less authentic than those in neighbouring Affentorplatz, where those that sell Ebbelwoi, such as Struwwelpeter, have a garland of fir branches hanging outside.

In these places the locals are marked by their ruminative stare and the lids on their glasses, supposedly to keep the Micke – Frankfurt dialect for flies – out of the brew. Whether you’ll have a good experience with Ebbelwoi may depend on the time of year; in late summer it starts sweet, getting progressively more alcoholic and bitter as the months progress. By Christmas it can knock you off your chair, Micke and all.

Most of the genuine Ebbelwoi places are family run, along the same lines as beer gardens, and some have live entertainment in the evenings. Outside the lively pedestrian areas, popular venues are Apfelwein Wagner on Schweizerstrasse and Zur Germania on Textorstrasse.

The city also runs a tram service called the Ebbelwoi Express, on a regular hop-on hop-off itinerary through the city centre and out to Sachsenhausen, with pretzels and applewine included in the price.