Calimocho!

Culture Events Food and Drink London

An amazing thing happened to me at the weekend. When I ordered my beloved Calimocho, the Czech barman actually knew what I was talking about.

“We call it ‘sponge’ in the Czech Republic,” he told me with delight. “Sponge, you know, because it’s easy to soak up.”

I first discovered Calimocho (half red wine, half coke) at the Shoreditch Proms last summer. An American friend offered me the drink at our picnic (it’s very much a ‘picnic-friendly drink’), claiming good things would happen, which they surely did.

The beauty of this drink is that, much like its sister Sangria, it’s refreshing. Fruity and fizzy, it definitely goes down like a cold punch on a hot day. Another key advantage is its taste: excellent. In other words, you can mix the cheapest, foulest house red with the nastiest, Lidl Coca Cola imitation drink and you’d still be left with a perfectly palatable drink.

Also, the caffeine counteracts the drowsy effects of the wine. So rather than feeling dozy, you feel sprightly – almost as if you were drinking an actual vodka and coke!

Friends, it gets better.

It’s a long drink. So you can order a large glass of wine, a pint of coke, and bam –three ready-mixed Calimochoses (pl.?).

Obviously, most London pubs are, at the moment, far too short-sighted to serve this favourite of Spanish students everywhere. They look at you oddly at first, and then ferociously when you spill both wine and coke all over the bar when attempting to mix two already over-full drinks.

But they are wrong.

It’s the new Snakebite. Just give it time.

One Response

  1. Pianetadonna 17 April, 2013

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