A Spanish Drink with Pomp and Circumstance

Consuming alcohol in Spain is practically a requirement. What with the two-hour break for lunch that most Spaniards enjoy daily, who wouldn’t be tempted to have a glass of wine along with the midday meal? Dinner is sometimes considered incomplete without the requisite glass of Rioja or Cava wine. I, for one, drank my fair share of sangria and jerez (Spanish sherry) during a recent visit to Madrid.  

But here’s a Spanish drink you may not have heard of: queimada. The über-strong concoction comes from Galicia, a region in Spain’s northwest corner. Unlike other Spanish beverages, queimada has its own special ceremony that accompanies the creation of each batch.

To start, the ingredients are assembled in a clay pot. Traditional additions include orujo (a Galician liqueur), sugar, coffee beans, and bits of lemon peel. The medley is then set on fire and allowed to burn until the flames turn blue. While the intoxicating brew simmers, a conjuro (spell) is typically recited. The speech addresses the four elements (earth, wind, fire, and water) and requests that special powers infuse the drink—or so I’m told, at least, as the spell is recited in Spanish. Alas, I frivolously chose to study a language other than Spanish in school.

I was fortunate enough to partake in a queimada ceremony while volunteering at a language immersion camp in Spain’s Andalusia region. Queimada is not very common in Andalusia, however, so your best bet is to visit Galicia for a taste of this ancient, supposedly magical potion.