Valencia’s champion cocktail

Nearly all visitors to Spain have ordered a jug of sangria Рor two Рto accompany their paella or tortilla espa̱ola, but not many realise that Valencia can boast its very own cocktail.

Its history isn’t officially recorded, but it is claimed that barman extraordinaire, Constante Gil, first mixed it in the bar Café Madrid de Valencia in 1959 in response to the demands from customers who had tired of the bar’s best cava and wanted to taste something completely different.

Never a man to back down from a challenge, Gil mixed his very first jug of Agua de Valencia and it proved a hit with his clientele.

You can make your own Agua de Valencia with the following ingredients:

20cl Orange juice
5cl Gin
5cl Vodka
70cl Cava (Spanish sparkling wine)
A pinch of sugar

Experts recommend placing it in the fridge to cool before drinking.

Constante Gil retired in 2000 and it seems that he missed his life at Café Madrid de Valencia, since he spent much of his time painting scenes of what he described as “tertulias de café” (that is, scenes of its lively social life).

Sadly, Constante died on June 7th 2009, but his paintings of life at the Café Madrid de Valencia and his ever-popular cocktail live on.

New post on at Tuesday, 8 September, 2009, 8:32 am and is archived in Culture, Food and drink, Lifestyle. Subscribe to answers with RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.