Spain’s influence on American cocktail culture has been a slow creep, especially compared with the rapid rise of Italian aperitivo stateside—you can now get a Negroni anywhere, which wasn’t the case even a decade ago. Spanish techniques (like throwing) and ingredients (like sherry) have played a respectable role at cocktail bars across the U.S., but it’s only recently that drinks from Spain’s broader canon of recipes—beyond well-known, if not maligned, staples like Sangria—have started to bubble up on menus. If the country’s old-school bars are proof of anything, though, it’s that Spain has a long and interesting history of drinking traditions, and there’s no better way to get to know them than to try some of the most iconic Spanish cocktails. Here are 10 classics to know.
Tinto de Verano, which translates to “summer red wine,” is Spain’s answer to the spritz. A warm-weather go-to, the drink simply combines red wine and gaseosa, a lemon-flavored soda (for a stateside substitute, Sprite works just as well), an ideal companion to the daily siesta. The two-part recipe is refreshing enough on its own, but you can also supersize it (and fortify it with vermouth) or freshen it up with homemade lemon syrup for an extra pop.
In northern Spain, Basque pintxos are served alongside a low-proof, Negroni-like drink called the Marianito. Essentially improved vermouth—sweet vermouth, Campari, bitters and a splash of gin—the summer-ready drink has spawned riffs, like the pomelo-spiked version from Bilbao cocktail bar La Mula de Moscú.
The Kalimotxo has gotten a bad rap. In its home country, for example, it’s hardly a staple at progressive cocktail bars. But at Spanish bars around the world, like El Quijote in New York City and Quattro Teste in Lisbon, the drink has become a site of bartender experimentation, with riffs featuring everything from amaro (and amaro soda) to raspberry cordial to pineapple rum.
On Menorca, the Spanish Mediterranean island, summer fiestas are synonymous with pomada, a slushy, icy blend of gin and lemonade served at the start of the season by officials at the local town hall. The prevalence of the drink is owed to the island’s long-standing relationship with gin—the producer Xoriguer has been there since the early 20th century—and pomada is a celebration of the spirit. The recipe can easily be batched for a crowd.
Sangria has long been derided as little more than a way to make the most of cheap wine. But its “more is more” mentality and forgiving nature have made it, like Kalimotxo, a bit of a bartender fascination over the past few years. El Quijote’s version of the drink—itself an update to the bar’s original 1930s recipe—leans on the high-low reputation and adds a few thoughtful touches, like pineapple juice, a balsamic vinegar reduction and aperitivo liqueur.
The Combinación, or Media Combinación as it’s known in Madrid, dates back to the 1920s. Like the Marianito, it combines dry gin and vermouth, this time in equal proportions, but adds red Curaçao and Angostura bitters to the mix. Diego Cabrera, a celebrated Spanish bartender, has reimagined the drink for the modern palate, ditching the Curaçao in favor of a house blend of sherry and vermouth.
The Gin & Tonic has made its way around the world, taking a slightly different tack wherever it is, be it the seltzer-spiked Sonics in Japan or the G&Ts of India, the drink’s birthplace, that have come to celebrate homegrown flavors and ingredients. In Spain, the style served is less of a formal recipe and more of an aesthetic: Served in a balloon glass with myriad garnishes, the Gintonic is garnished with free-floating herbs, fruit and peppercorns. For a modern approach, Sarah Morrissey’s streamlined version of the drink freezes the abundant garnishes into an ice cube.
The Barraquito’s got layers. Literally. Both a midmorning pick-me-up and a ritual, the drink—which comes from the Canary Islands and calls for sweetened condensed milk, Licor 43, whole milk and coffee—is the rare kind of cocktail that’s beloved by adults of all ages. It is a staple of sobremesa—a traditional post-meal moment—served at bars and cafés across the islands, like Maresía Atlantic Bar, which serves an ultra-classic version.
Born in the 1980s in Pamplona’s festival of San Fermín, the Butano is an easy-drinking combination of the sloe liqueur pacharán and orange soda. The party drink can be made simply with the two ingredients, but for an updated version, Alf del Portillo, of Quattro Teste, offers the Navarrico, a cross between the Spanish drink and the Garibaldi, thanks to its inclusion of fresh fluffy orange juice.
When Punch first covered the Rebujito—an Andalusia highball of sherry and citrus soda—it was still largely unsung stateside. But in the sherry triangle, where it was born, it’s ubiquitous, a low-proof and party-ready drink that’s as easy to make as it is to drink. Today, the Rebujito is making the rounds on menus at American cocktail bars and can be as simple as fino sherry and Sprite, or it can be spruced up with mint syrup. Each is equally refreshing. Mario Muñoz González, a portfolio manager at Lustau, once put it, “The Rebujito is pure energy.”
