The dense, hot and sticky days of summer make us go in search of refreshing drinks, air conditioners and swimming pools. We can’t help you with the last two, but we can with the first, and for this reason we have compiled our favorite refreshing drinks to calm the summer hot flash. Although the most recurrent phrase of this time of year must be “I would drink a cold beer right now”, we are betting on this list for non-alcoholic drinks, which have something special and are far from industrial sugary soft drinks that do us little good.
The demand for this type of drink is growing from consumers who claim it for health reasons or convictions, and it is increasingly common –although very little by little– to see interesting non-alcoholic drinks in stores, bars and restaurants. We review juices, soft drinks, non-alcoholic beers and kombuchas.
JUICES
Fresh fruit and vegetable juice Veguicia
The journalist Lakshmi Aguirre does not consider herself a person of juices, “the fruit is to be chewed and it is how I like to drink it”, she confesses, so I take this recommendation of Veguicia juices very seriously. “In the celebration of the last Frozen Conversations that Fernando and Angelines de Della Sera organized in Logroño, a green concoction came into my hands to which I am addicted. It has apple, orange, spinach, cucumber, celery, ginger and mint (no water or sugar) and it’s like taking a drink of spring, ”he says. The beetroot is her second favorite and they also have other blends and single fruit juices. This family business from La Rioja has patented a form of natural conservation with which they avoid pasteurization, the addition of chemicals to the juice and its subjection to high pressure to promote its conservation. “Of course, it lasts 10 days in the fridge (if you don’t drink it before)”, says Lakshmi. Price: Consult points of sale.
Continuing in the line of juices, we go towards the exotic with the recommendation of Jordi Luque. Although he confesses that his favorite drink is the Negroni, from the “non-alcoholic” category he sticks with the Foco brand coconut juice. “I really like the usual version, a sweetened coconut water with chunks of pulp, but it drives me crazy roasted coconut versionmore difficult to find, with a smoky touch that gives depth”, he explains. Price: from 1.75 euros.
My contribution to this list of recommendations is Zumiño’s apple juice. It is extremely refreshing, aromatic and perfectly balanced between acid and sweet. It has absolutely nothing to do with any industrial apple juice from concentrate, the kind that make you sick just by looking at them. Although its name already gives clues, these juices are made with apples grown in Baixo Miño (Galicia) in an ecological and sustainable way. They are cold pressed, they are vegan and they have other juices that mix different ingredients. Plus: the design of everything they do makes me crazy. Price: from three euros the 750 ml.
SOFT DRINKS AND A SPARKLING WATER
“Soft drinks interest me as much as bullfights or masses, but if I had to save one, maybe I would stick with the tonic,” says Mikel López Iturriaga. Le Tribute, from MG distilleries, is the most perfect version he has tasted lately: “nothing cloying and adult in acidity and bitterness, and with a persistent bubble”. It is made with natural quinine from Ecuador –the ingredient that gives the tonic its bitter taste– and lemongrass, something that, according to Mikel “may seem like something important or nonsense depending on your level of gourmet poshness. The fact is that it tastes less synthetic and more pleasant than other brands, and you don’t have to sully it with gin to enjoy it”. Price: from 1.65 the 200 ml.
Whole Earth Sugar Free Ginger Soda
“Sparkling water, apple and lemon juice and ginger are the ingredients of this soft drink whose bubbles and spicy touch at the end taste to me like blessed glory when the heat stirs up”, says Mònica Escudero. Whole Earth is an English company that produces different organic products, so the ingredients of this soft drink come from crops in accordance with its philosophy. “It says that it does not have added sugar but that does not mean that it does not have it: apple juice gives it, so it is a full-fledged soft drink, to drink from time to time,” warns Mònica. Price: from 1.75 the 330 ml.
In a story that could have come from The country where the lemon tree blooms by Helena Attlee, Jorge Guitián tells his story with the Chinotto soft drink. “I discovered Italian sours on a trip to Tuscany a bunch of years ago, when I found a whole range to dive into: bitter orange, blood orange, green mandarin, citron, something called foam and that is prepared with orange peel and rhubarb root. And the chinotto”. It is a drink that is made with extract of chinotto –pronounced “quinoto”–, a citrus fruit that looks like a small orange, a relative of the bitter orange and reminiscent of the kumquat. “If they are well made, soft drinks chinotto they have a very interesting balance between sweet and bitter, they are aromatic and very refreshing. The Tomarchio brand, which has been manufactured in Catania since the end of the 19th century, is one of the most popular and, of those that I have tried, one of those that abuses the sweetest less. I’m not a big fan of soft drinks, but if an exception has to be made, it better be with a century-old product and with a flavor that is out of the ordinary.” Price: from 1.90 the 250 ml.
Vichy Catalan sparkling mineral water
“A small bottle of Vichy Catalán –in addition to making me feel like a very classy lady– has saved me from many hangovers; especially accompanied by some pickles, and some deaths from dehydration, “he says claudia polo, who also declares herself as a faithful subscriber to sparkling water. “I like it because I can order it anywhere and they almost always have it,” she adds, “and if I buy it to drink at home, I combine it with other ingredients like a little crushed basil and squeezed lemon, a coulis of red fruits or some aromatic flowers such as rose, elderberry or lavender”. Price: from 0.90 a can of 330 ml.
NON-ALCOHOLIC BEERS AND A GINGER BEER
“If you don’t like conventional non-alcoholic beers, or carbonated soft drinks, or sugary industrial juices (for which God knows why they serve even in hospitals), finding sober and tasty drinks in a Spanish bar becomes a higher chimera to that of Indiana Jones and the grail”, says David Remartinez. Thus, “my list of drinks that don’t alter your consciousness and that make you smack is really small, and it also contains more expensive brands than a Fanta or a 0’0 bottle,” he says. His list begins with Thomas Henry’s ginger ale – which despite being called a beer does not contain alcohol – created by bartenders experts in Berlin. “It’s spicy and citrusy, and with every sip it perks up my mouth better than a dodgy mojito from resort”, confess. Price: from 4.81 euros a pack of 4 bottles of 200 ml.
In its list, Remartinez also includes a craft beer, No Worries, from the Norwegian brewery Lervig. “A competent IPA, with a nicely eloquent name and one that I always take the can with, because the design is so cool,” she says. In the brand’s No Worries line you can also find other beers that mix different ingredients. They are not very easy to find but they are usually present in specialized stores and online stores. Price: from 2.20 euros a 330 ml can.
“I’m good at beer,” says Claudia Polo. The recent launch of Ambar is innovative and goes beyond zero alcohol as it also has zero sugar and zero CO2 (neutral emissions). As the brand itself explains, all the sugar is transformed into alcohol by the action of the yeasts and all the alcohol is removed with technology from the final product. So we can say that it is good if you want to take care of your health and also, even if it is a little, that of the planet. “It is somewhat toasty, light and you hardly notice the difference with a normal one,” explains Claudia. Price: from 1.25 euros a bottle of 330 ml.
KOMBUCHAS
Tangerine, Turmeric and Pepper Kombucha LOV
“At a time when most of what they sell us as kombucha has not even seen fermentation on YouTube, this drink is based on filtered water, whole cane sugar, different types of tea and the three ingredients that give it aroma It’s wonderful”, says Mònica Escudero. They make it at the Catalan company LOV ferments and they also prepare others with other ingredients – in addition to making limited editions with seasonal ingredients. “I found her in Gina Balmesina and I think it’s a shame that they don’t have it in more places because it goes very well with food, not just as a soft drink to drink on its own”, concludes Mònica. Price: from three euros a bottle of 330 ml.
“I resisted trying kombucha for a long time because it seemed like just another unnecessary fad, until I drank one in a restaurant, made by them,” Anna Mayer tells me. Since then, she has tried different brands and already has three favorites, among which is Komvida. “I think they were among the first to go on the market, and the fact that they did so from the province of Badajoz makes me like them even better because starting a business in the provinces can be less easy than in the big centers,” says Anna. Her favorite: ginger and lemon, although she is close behind with apple and cinnamon. He describes it as “a bit tart, a bit spicy and very refreshing. It does not have carbon dioxide or any type of added sugar or sweetener (apart from what is necessary for fermentation)”. Price: from 2.25 euros a bottle of 330 ml.
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