Killepitsch schnapps to it at Frankford Hall

German beer, understandably, is the most obvious drink at Frankford Hall. But when I stepped up to the ping-pong table one recent misty night, something magnificent happened when I took a sip of Killepitsch, a thick and syrupy herbal liqueur, or kräuterlikör. Schnapps! Suddenly that little white ball - a speedy blur on most other nights - just hung there in space like a moon for my paddle. Swat! Schnapps! Swat! Yes, the stuff is bitter, a blood-red Düsseldorf witch's brew of 90 berries, herbs, fruits, and spices that's described as "medicinal" without any sense of irony. "Tip it back" is roughly what the name means, and it's a classic Euro digestif, along the lines of Unicum from Hungary, another bittersweet liqueur (mostly bitter, with licoricey bottom notes) I've somehow acquired a keen taste for. There are sweeter schnapps here to choose from, like the Barenjager, which tastes like honeycomb with a kick, or BlackHaus (raspberry), Berentzen (pears), or the ubiquitous Jägermeister (just 56 ingredients.) But so long as I feel like the ping-pong version of bullet-dodging Neo in The Matrix, I'll keep tipping back the Killepitsch, indeed!

Killepitsch (and other schnapps), $8.50, Frankford Hall, 1210 Frankford Ave., 215-634-3338.

- Craig LaBan