I tell you about alcoholic beverages in Spain, what locals and tourists in Spain drink on vacation. Here they mix beer and wine with soda, drink liqueurs, sangria and sherry.
Some of this list is not at all familiar, so it is worth discovering new flavors.
Alcoholic Drinks of Spain
In Spain they mix everything they can. The result is Spanish low-alcohol drinks, which you can drink in hot weather and not be afraid of getting drunk quickly. Most often it is soda, wine and beer.
Tourists do not always know about these drinks and overlook them, although they are written even on the advertising boards of cafes and restaurants. Here is what you can try in Spain from drinks.
Tinto de verano is a wine with carbonated water, a light summer alcoholic drink of Spain.
Clara – a mix of lemonade and beer, very tasty indeed! They mix 50/50 beer and Fanta. You can buy ready-made clara in a store. For example, at Lidl. Look for cans with a picture of a lemon. It costs less than 1 €.
Radler (cerveza con lemon) is a kind of clara, a beer with lemon soda. In general, it is said that this drink comes from Germany, and the name “radler” translates as “cyclist”. Now it is easy to order it both in Munich and Barcelona.
Rebujito is a sherry, manzanilla wine and soda (like Sprite). Spain’s alcoholic beverage comes from Andalusia.
Orchata – non-alcoholic drink made from chufa peanuts, water, and sugar. Originally from Valencia. Perfectly refreshing in the heat, children like it because of its sweet taste.
Aquarius – Official drink of the Olympic Games in Barcelona, considered a healthy drink, recommended for dehydration and poisoning.
Granizado is water with ice and syrup. A very sweet drink.
Calimocho – a mixture of red wine, Coca-Cola and ice. A very unusual combination. After such combinations it seems that Spaniards can mix wine with anything.
Water of Valencia is an alcoholic beverage of Spain, which is vodka, champagne and freshly squeezed orange juice.
Wines
Of course, it is worth trying Spanish wines. This country is the third largest producer of this beautiful drink in the world, after France and Italy, of course. In fact, all the wineries are concentrated here and in neighboring regions.
In the supermarket you can buy a wine even for 2-3 €, and it will be an alcoholic beverage of Spain from quality grapes. Non-natural wines are generally forbidden here. The average price for a bottle of wine is 6-8 €. For 10 € there is a very good wine. Once on the shelves in other countries, the prices increase several times.
Gramona Hessami Penedes is one of the most popular wines in Spain. Suitable for seafood dishes, shrimp, squid. It costs 8,5 €.
Jean Leon Chardonnay Barrique – often ordered with pasta. Costs 19 €.
Remelluri Blanco – a wine with an aroma of grass, hazelnuts and fruit. Goes well with white meat dishes. Be sure to try it in Spain, it costs 33 €, and in our country it is 2.5 times more expensive.
Camins del Priorat is a red wine with an aroma of fruit, citrus and vanilla. It costs about 15 €.
Spanish sherry
Sherry is a purely Catalan drink. Most of it is made from the white palomino grape. There are a large number of sherry varieties. It is an alcoholic beverage of Spain, fortified, tart (15-20%), for warm evenings by the fireplace and dinner for two.
The sweetest type of sherry is Pedro Ximenez (to me it tastes like sweet carob syrup with alcohol, costs in the store 9-10 €), the other is Moscatel.
Dry sherry varieties: fino and manzanilla, amontillado, palo cortado, oloroso. You still have to look for sherry in stores in Spain, it is there, but the label Herez (in Catalan Xeres) is sometimes so small that you have to pass by three times to notice it.
I remember the first time I went to Mallorca, a friend asked me to buy a bottle of sherry. He hadn’t picked it up in months, and we decided on a family meeting to open it. That taste was wonderful, I still remember it to this day.
Sangria
Sangria is Spain’s main alcoholic drink. A mixture of wine, soda, fruit and liqueur. Sangria comes in not only red, but also white. There are some with the addition of champagne. It is served over ice in large decanters and poured into large wine glasses.
Sometimes tourists buy sangria in a store and drink it pure, which is not particularly Spanish. Dilute it with soda, add ice, and you’re just like the Spaniards. A liter of sangria costs 2-4 € in a store and 10-15 € in a restaurant.
Beer
In Spain, they dilute all alcoholic drinks, wine and even beer (as mentioned above, clara and radler – a mixture of beer and soda – are popular here). This is fine. Otherwise, in the heat you’ll be swept away very quickly.
The most popular Spanish beers are San Miguel, Alhambra, Mahau, Cruz Campo. In bars you order beer with the name of the container, otherwise you just won’t be understood. There is no 0.5 by default here. For example, cana tapa is a small beer of 0.25 or 0.3. In bars it costs 1.5-2.5 €. For those who want more – un tubo – a large elongated glass without a handle, una jarra – a standard beer mug, un tanque – a large liter mug with a handle. Spanish people usually choose cana tapa and drink smaller portions in order to prevent the beverage from heating up in the heat.
Spanish supermarkets carry 0,33 and 0,5 liters as standard.
Liqueurs
Spaniards are very fond of liqueurs. For many of them they are the best alcoholic beverages in Spain. They come in different flavors: banana, coconut, pineapple, orange, lemon, apple, peach, cherry and raspberry. There are even liqueurs made of acorns, cinnamon and lavender. Their strength varies from 15 to 28%.
Spanish liqueurs are drunk in their pure form (chilled for sure), mixed with carbonated water and ice (they like to mix everything) and added to cocktails. Spanish liqueurs are produced in all regions of the country resulting in cheap logistics and low prices.
You may purchase a small bottle from 3 €, a liter bottle – up to 10 €. Liqueurs in Spain are sold in supermarkets and you can order 50 grams in cafes and restaurants.
Crema Catalana is an alcoholic beverage from Spain with vanilla and cinnamon. It costs 8-9 € for 0,7 l.
Pacharan is a liqueur with anise and caramel notes. It costs up to 15 € for 0,7 l.
Liqueur 43 is a famous Spanish alcoholic drink based on 43 herbs and additives.
Now you know about the different alcoholic beverages in Spain that tourists and locals drink in Spain. If you go on vacation, do not deny yourself the pleasure of trying quality aperitivos and digestivos.
In other countries it is difficult to find such quality, and the prices will be several times more expensive. So try here while you are on vacation. Even if you don’t like alcohol, you can find delicious non-alcoholic drinks that are perfectly refreshing on hot days.
