The Spanish summer wine, better known as “Tinto de Verano,” is the most typical drink during the summer in Spain. No matter where you go, a bar, a restaurant, a beach or sometimes even people in the streets… you will see the Spanish “Tinto de Verano” everywhere you go. Although it´s a drink made for the summer, you will also see it during the whole year. I guess people love it so much, they can´t really wait for the summer to drink it. Today we are going to learn how to make Tinto de Verano, it´s ingredients, where to buy the best one and much more information about it!
What is Tinto de Verano?
The meaning of Tinto de Verano is summer wine, but other than that what is Tinto de Verano? Well, Tinto de Verano is a Spanish drink made out of red wine and a fruity soft drink (generally a soda).
The red wine is a must and you will also need to mix it with a soda lemon drink. Normally, in Spain people use gaseosa or lemon Fanta, but in case you don´t have it, you may be able to use either Sprite or 7-Up.
How to make Tinto de Verano?
Although there are many places where you can drink a delicious Spanish Tinto de Verano, we truly recommend you learning how to make Tinto de Verano at home. Not just because the result will be more natural and probably better, but also because you will be able to drink it every time you want to no matter where you at.
Learning how to make Tinto de Verano is quite simple, plus its recipe just takes about 5 minutes or less to make it:
Tinto de Verano ingredients
- Half a litter of red wine
- A splash of Vermouth (add to your taste)
- 400 ml of soda (lemon Fanta or gaseosa)
- 1 Orange and 1 lemon sliced
- Ice
Easy recipe for Tinto de Verano
- In a big jug add a great amount of ice (1/5 of the jug)
- Fulfill half of the jug with red wine
- Add a splash of Vermouth
- Cut an orange and a lemon into slices and add them to give it flavor
- On top of everything serve some soda, generally lemon Fanta
- Your Tinto de verano recipe is ready, enjoy it!!
Best red wine for Tinto de Verano?
If we tell you the truth, there is no best red wine for Tinto de Verano drink. It´s a common question, but everyone in Spain will use the first red wine they have on their houses. Some people even use very cheap and bad wines. We recommend you just buying a decent one so you don´t have a bad hangover, but other than that you can use any red wine you want.
Where to buy Tinto de Verano?
Again, we recommend you trying to make Tinto de Verano at home, as you saw the Tinto recipe is very easy and it´s worth spending those 5 minutes. Anyway, if you just prefer to go to a terrace or to buy it at a supermarket, you can still do it. There are some good options, but generally they will serve you the Spanish Tinto from a bottle of Don Simon, which is still good but of course is not the same.
You can buy it at the Hipercor or in any Mercadona or most of the supermarkets in Spain. If you want to go to a bar, there is not a place known for having the best Tinto de Verano, so just go to a cool place with a great atmosphere and enjoy it!
Tinto de Verano and Sangria
Comparing Tinto de Verano and Sangria is very common. Many people think these two are the same and that´s why most of the tourist would drink Sangria instead of Tinto, as it´s the commercial one.
The easiest way to distinguish the sangria from the Tinto de Verano is seeing if the fruit on the top. Generally, the sangria has more fruits on the top, like grapes, apples, peaches… meanwhile the Spanish drink Tinto de Verano only has the slices of orange or lemon.
As we said, Spanish locals always choose Tinto instead of Sangria, but you can try both and decide which one you like the most.
Enjoy the Spanish drink “Tinto de Verano”!
That´s all you need to know about this typical Spanish drink, the “Tinto de Verano”. As you have seen learning how to make Tinto de Verano is very easy, but if you have any question or suggestion, please let us know!