Tyskie’s roots date back to 1629 in Tychy in South-Western Poland, but the brand has been widening its appeal since the early 1990s, and became a market leader in 2000. In recent years, Tyskie has rapidly become the beer of choice in Poland, as it became available in more and more towns and cities across the country. As well as being the most popular beer in Poland with over 7 million consumers; it is also the most robust brands in the country – but why stop there? Tyskie is enjoyed all over the world, and is one of the most successful Polish beers outside of Poland, mainly in the United Kingdom, Germany, the United States of America, Canada, Ireland, France, the Netherlands and Iceland.

Receiving awards at international beer festivals and competitions, Tyskie is regarded as an expert in the field of brewing, and Poland’s representative in the European arena. No other Polish beer has been awarded such prestigious accolades as the Brewing Industry International Award, Monde Selection, and the Australian International Beer Award. Today Tyskie stands not only for the pride of Silesia – the region of Poland from which it hails – but the pride of the whole country, and a symbol of Polish beer.

Innovative Marketing Campaigns

The Tyskie brand is supported by a number of well-known and wide-reaching marketing campaigns. Some of the most memorable to date include “European Beer Culture”, the football themed “Euro 2008” and the recently launched “International Beer Year”.

“European Beer Culture” focused on the nature of being internationally accepted, as well as the bonding aspects of Tyskie beer. Gathering together other popular international beer brands, Tyskie published a unique book, the Tyskie Beer Manual, which presented the history of brewing around the world, depicting various beer drinking habits in different countries and including interesting facts from the world of beer-drinking. The beer manual taught readers how to say “cheers!” in several different languages including German or Dutch, as well as provided facts and figures about the world-famous Oktoberfest in Munich – and even included a recipe for beer soup. The Tyskie Beer Manual was distributed in Gazeta Wyborcza, an influential Polish daily newspaper, and was also made available at Empik, a popular High-Street retailer.

“Euro 2008” was a campaign dedicated to fans of Polish football. For several years, Tyskie has had close links to sport, including the sponsorship of the Polish national football team. To celebrate the UEFA Euro 2008, Tyskie produced special t-shirts depicting the Polish national football team which were made available through a nationwide consumer promotion. Every football fan could win a t-shirt with their own name or nickname on the back. This gained such interest among football fans that shortly after the launch of the promotion, Poland was flooded by fans wearing their “customised” Tyskie t-shirts. Furthermore, Tyskie also offered every football fan an opportunity to get a Tyskie flag to show their support for the national team. These flags were a huge success, and could be seen hanging in windows and from balconies across the country. Buses, cars, taxis, bikes were also draped in Tyskie flags. Demand for flags was so great that stores and shops quickly ran out of them. Football fever really hit Poland in 2008, and Tyskie played a major part in getting everyone into the spirit.

“International Beer Year” is Tyskie’s most recently launched campaign. It is emphasises Tyskie’s role in the world of contemporary beer. As the best-loved Polish beer brand – both at home and internationally – Tyskie has named 2009 as the “International Beer Year”, 12 months packed with numerous festivals and consumer promotions throughout Poland, which will raise awareness of international beer culture. Tyskie will also be present at three of the world’s most beer festivals – in Berlin, Tokyo and in Toronto.

An Export Success Story

More and more beer-drinkers around the world are developing a taste for Tyskie, which has contributed to the rapid export growth of the Tyskie brand, which is now considered Poland’s leading export beer brand. This is not only down to the large number of devoted Polish consumers who now live outside Poland remaining loyal to their favourite beer – they have also inspired their friends and colleagues to drink Tyskie. Each year, the list of countries where Tyskie is available gets longer and longer… starting with United States of America and Canada, through Holland, France, Iceland to the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany and China. More important still, Tyskie is constantly more often chosen by native Europeans – even without being recommended by Polish friends.

Taking a look at the numbers, since being introduced to the Irish market, Tyskie’s sales have increased by an astonishing 400%. In Ireland, Tyskie has a 73% share in total Polish beer brands purchased. This shows the scale of Tyskie’s appreciation outside of Poland.

Kompania Piwowarska is the largest brewer in Poland. Hundreds of years of experience in beer brewing, state-of-the-art technology and rigorous adherence to the World Class Manufacturing principles guarantee the highest quality beer. The company’s product portfolio includes Tyskie – Poland’s favourite beer, Żubr – the second largest Polish brand of beer, Lech, Dębowe Mocne, Pilsner Urquell, Redd’s, Dog in the Fog, Peroni Nastro Azzurro and Miller Genuine Draft. Kompania Piwowarska was established in 1999 as a result of a merger of Tyskie Browary Książęce and Lech Browary Wielkopolski.

The Tatras Mountains are part of the Carpathian Mountains; the Carpathians form a 1,500 kilometer range across Central and Eastern Europe, starting in the Czech Republic and gracefully arching eastwards and southwards, through Slovakia, Poland, Hungary and the Ukraine, all the way to Romania; the literary will recall that Dracula\’s castle is located in the Carpathians. The Tatras have the distinction and the honour of being the highest section of this massive natural barrier, with the highest peaks exceeding 2,600 meters. When travellers come to Poland, this is one part of the country that is deemed unmissable – and it is.

Zakopane lies about 100 km south of Kraków, smack on the Slovakian border. Nestled deep in a picturesque valley at the foot of the Tatras, the town is the easiest part of the mountain range to get to from the rest of Poland, and a perfect place to start and stay for a few days.

Although the Tatras have over 250 km of walking trails, by far the most popular place to hike is in the Tatra National Park, which begins just south of Zakopane. For a lovely, short and not very challenging walk, take the very popular path called Dolina Strążyska; you can walk it and return on foot to Zakopane within 2 or 3 hours, depending on your speed and level of fitness. All easier trails are very well marked, with coloured \’stripes\’ to help you navigate. And with so many people walking the more well-known areas, if you get lost, simply sit and wait three minutes. Someone is bound to appear – most likely a high-energy 10-year-old kid.

Eat and Drink, Highlander-Style

All this walking and culture is bound to work up an appetite, so be culinarily adventurous and try some of the local, traditional Highlander cuisine. On the top of the list is oszczypek, a smoked cheese which has been produced in the Tatras since the 15th century. Much to the initial horror of EU standards, its base is unpasteurised sheep\’s milk; any worries about oszczypek being banned from being sold have thankfully come to nothing, and it is sold by old women in headscarves all along the mountains themselves and in Zakopane\’s streets. In terms of production, the ewe\’s milk is first made into curd, which is repeatedly rinsed with boiling water and squeezed tightly before being pressed in wooden, spindle-shaped moulds in decorative, highlander shapes. The cheese is then soaked in a brine-filled barrel for a night or two, placed near the roofs of special wooden huts, and cured and smoked for up to 14 days. The result is a very distinctive taste and texture: slightly salty and soft, the colour varies from a pale, lemon yellow to a deep burnished brown, depending on the length of the smoking. In general, the darker the cheese, the smokier and huskier the strength of the taste.

Now, what do you need to wash down this highlander cheese? How about some herbata góralska (highlander tea), which is tea with vodka? The amount of vodka to be added is measured with an index finger – and as the evening progresses, two or three fingers. After that, the tea is often just forgotten altogether. Another popular drink is spirytus, which is pure alcohol and can be added to tea, coffee or juice. Highland Poles claim it keeps you warm on chilly evenings in the mountains, and it may well do so. And imagine how spectacular the mountains would look if you goggled them with a skinful of tea…highlander-style!

Kraków is often the jumping-off point to Zakopane, and as such, connections between the two are fantastic. Buses run almost constantly, and cost zł.9-10 (about 2 pounds) for the two-hour journey. The frequency of the buses make them a better option than the trains, which take 3.5 hours to get to Kraków and cost zł.25. Both the bus and train stations in Zakopane are within walking distance of the town\’s main street, ul. Krupówski, where most of the restaurants, shops, hotels and help in English can be found.

Absolutely recommended is the Hotel Sabala, ul. Krupówki 11, tel. +48 (18) 201 50 92, www.sabala.zakopane.pl Sabala occupies the most central place in Zakopane, and has the best history. It originally opened in 1894 and its rooms, bar and restaurant hosted a flamboyant troop of artists, poets, free-thinkers and intellectuals, as well as the hotel\’s namesake: the legendary (and in these parts, near-mythical) folk singer, Sabala. The hotel itself is absolutely gorgeous: it retains much of its original architecture and all of its original charm, but includes modern anemities, such as a swimming pool, sauna, steam room and solarium.

The Hotel Sabala (above) has a great restaurant and live Highlander music every evening, but also worth trying is Gazdowo Kużnia, ul. Krupówski 1, tel. +48 (18) 201 72 01, which specialises in regional cuisine.

All the restaurants have liquor licenses – this is, after all, the highlander\’s stomping ground – but special mention must go to Cafe Piano, ul. Krupówski 63, which boasts spectacular jazz nightly and a very decent wine and cocktail list for those tired of beer and the hard stuff.

Text by Michelle Smith  Photos by Tomasz Sarna