Spanish bar menus often list drinks by a word you won't find in a phrasebook: caña, chato, tubo, clara. The vocabulary is small, and once you know it you can order like a regular in Spain or at a Spanish bar abroad. This guide covers beer, wine, vermouth, sherry, the everyday mixed drinks, and what to ask for after the meal.
Beer: caña, tubo, clara
- Una caña: a small glass of draught beer. It is a very common beer order in Spain. The exact size varies from bar to bar and region to region.
- Un tubo: draught beer in a taller, narrower glass, so a bit more than a caña.
- Una clara: beer mixed with lemon soda or gaseosa (a sweet fizzy water). Lighter and good in the heat.
- Una sin: an alcohol-free beer, short for "sin alcohol".
Small measures are the point. A caña stays cold, and you order another (otra) rather than nursing a large glass.
Wine: tinto, blanco, chato
- Un tinto, un blanco, un rosado: a glass of red, white or rosé. In an ordinary bar this gets you the house wine.
- Un chato: a traditional term for a small glass of wine, still heard in older bars.
- To get something specific, name the region or grape: "un Rioja", "un Ribera", "un Albariño", "un Verdejo".
- Una copa de cava: a glass of Spanish sparkling wine. Our cava page and our guide on how to read a cava label explain the styles.
In Basque bars, the young, lightly sparkling style of the local white wine txakoli is often poured from a height into a wide glass, which lifts its fizz. Not every txakoli is served this way. In Asturias the same technique is used for sidra, natural cider, which is poured in a long stream (escanciar) and drunk in one go while it is still lively.
Vermouth and sherry
- Un vermut: sweet red vermouth, often on tap (vermut de grifo), served over ice with a slice of orange and an olive. It is the drink of "la hora del vermut", the pre-lunch hour, especially at weekends. Our vermut page and our piece on Spanish vermouth cover it in more depth.
- Un fino or una manzanilla: dry, pale sherry, served well chilled in a small glass. Manzanilla comes from Sanlúcar de Barrameda; fino is made in Jerez and El Puerto de Santa María, and also in Montilla-Moriles near Córdoba. Both suit salty tapas such as olives, almonds and jamón. See our sherry guide and jerez page.
Everyday mixed drinks
- Tinto de verano: red wine with lemon soda or gaseosa, over ice. The everyday summer drink in many bars.
- Sangria: red wine with fruit, usually made by the jug. Our comparison of sangria and tinto de verano explains the difference.
- Rebujito: manzanilla or fino mixed with lemon-lime soda, the drink of the Seville April fair.
- Kalimotxo: red wine and cola, half and half. Basque in origin.
After the meal
In Spain coffee usually comes after dessert, not with it. Un café solo is a short black coffee, un cortado has a splash of milk, and un café con leche is the large milky one, usually a morning drink. A carajillo is coffee with a shot of brandy or rum.
Many restaurants also offer a chupito, a small digestif. Pacharán, a sloe liqueur from Navarre, and orujo, a grape-pomace spirit closely associated with Galicia, are common choices.
A few bar habits
- In many bars you pay at the end, not per round. Ask for "la cuenta, por favor".
- In some cities, Granada being the best-known example, many bars serve a small free tapa with a drink. It depends on the bar, and elsewhere it is a bonus, not a rule.
- A round for the group is "una ronda".
Where to drink the Spanish way abroad
These venues describe these drinks in their own listings on our site:
- Txikito, New York: a Basque restaurant in Chelsea where txakoli is poured from a height.
- MoVida Next Door, Melbourne: an Andalusian-style bar where the listing pairs croquetas and seafood with an ice-cold fino or Albariño, or a couple of manzanillas.
- Vermut KL, Kuala Lumpur: a tapas bar serving classic tapas, wines and vermouth.
- Topa, Athens: a Basque-Cretan tapas bar in Kypseli whose name means "cheers" in Basque, built around vermouths and traditional ciders.
- 22 Ships, Hong Kong: at its Bodega table, walk-ins can order Spanish wines, sangrias, sherry, vermouth-based cocktails and homemade liquors.
