Drinks for your Spanish theme event

Welcome to my 10-part series “Planning the perfect Spanish theme party”. I’m covering party planning, food, drink, entertainment, activities, music, decorations, birthday parties, dance parties, and invitations and favours.

This is part 3: Drinks for your Spanish theme party.

It’s not just Sangria!

Sangria

But we might as well start with it 🙂 Traditionally, Sangria is red wine with fruit. It can also contain different types of spirits. It’s a refreshing drink that can be served in large jugs which look lovely at summer parties. BBC Good Food has dedicated an entire page to explaining how to make sangria that is a good place to start from.

A more modern invention is Sangria Blanco made with white wine. Chef and author Jo Cismaru has a simple and delicious recipe for it.

Wine

Spain has 70 wine regions! And since the Spanish geography is so diverse, the wines vary and there’s something to suit everyone’s taste. You’ll be able to provide simple, crowd-pleasing pleasures, but also satisfy even a connoiseur’s expert palate. The Wine Society has compiled this Ultimate Guide to Spanish Wine, which makes an enjoyable, in-depth read. My favourite Spanish wines are Rioja, a red wine, Txakoli from the Basque region, a fresh white wine, and Garnacha, a grape that makes red and rosé wines.

Cava

Cava is a sparkling wine and made in the same way as French champagne. It’s refreshing and elegant, and the ideal drink to serve on arrival and for a toast.

Beer

Most of you will know Estrella and San Miguel. But Spain also has a growing tradition of craft beers. I’m not a beer expert, but I found this very interesting article about pairing tapas with beer on the website of CocoVail, a beerhall in Barcelona. It made me curious and I will give their tips a try.

Sherry

Sherry is a fortified wine, meaning it’s wine to which a distilled spirit has been added. Sherry is made from white grapes and a grape spirit, and produced in the Sherry Triangle, the region between Jerez de la Frontera, Sanlúcar de Barrameda and El Puerto de Santa María – a region that incidentally is also part of the heartland of Flamenco!

I watched a Rick Stein documentary on the BBC recently, in which he sings Sherry’s praises and I can’t wait to be able to travel again and try it where it’s made, while participating in Flamenco masterclasses! ‘Rick Stein’s Long Weekends: Cadiz‘ is not currently available to watch online, but when it comes round again, look out for it. I found it very inspiring.

Non-alcoholic drinks

Non-alcoholic drinks are not just important for children’s parties. It’s a missed opportunity to not offer really special and extraordinary drinks without alcohol. They can be just as interesting, gorgeously presented and sophisticated as alcoholic options. Make the best use of fresh fruit for your summer fiestas, and embrace frozen fruit for Christmas parties and other winter events.

Seedlip, who have created the world’s first distilled non-alcoholic spirits, offer enticing cocktail recipes and Dry Drinker even offers a selection of non-alcoholic Spanish wines, but I have never tried these before.

I hope this post inspires you and provides you with plenty of information for drinks at any type of Spanish theme party! Next, I will write about entertainment and so far I have covered party planning and food for Spanish theme parties. Stay tuned and let me know what drinks you’ll be serving in the comments.

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