Clinks and Drinks

Drinks

Beer and wine are staples of the culinary experience. Among beer, Estrella Galicia wins the hearts of visitors and natives hands down. There are many Galician wines too. White wines like Ribeiro and Albariño and light red wine Mencía are other hits. Cocktails are not as popular unless you are at a nightclub “discoteca.”

Some wine left but the tapas are long gone

In terms of liquor, proceed with caution. The potent and desserty coffee liquor “café liquor” and “orujo,” a distilled wine flavored with herbs or coffee, are traditional Galician specialties to sample in small quantities! There is also the colorful witch tradition of the “queimada” (Check out: Galician Oddities) which is a sweet punch consisting of orujo, flavored with special herbs plus sugar, lemon peel and cinnamon. It is mixed in a caludron or pumpkin as a spell is recited and then the quiemada is lit on fire and as it burns, more liquor is added.

Traditional liquors "liquor café" and "orujo" distilled alcohol are available for sale in many shops.