150 ml Red wine, 15 ml Brandy, 35 ml Orange juice, 5 ml Sugar, 1 slice Orange, 2 slices Apple, 237 ml Ice
Calimocho
Red wine and Dr Pepper, half and half. Cheaper than it sounds, better than you think.
Ingredients
Measures below are multiplied for 12 drinks. Unmeasurable amounts such as “a splash” are left as written.
- 1200 ml Measuring jug A measuring jug: pour to the 1200 ml line. Red wine - A young, fruity red - nothing you would be sad to pour a cola into
- 1200 ml Measuring jug A measuring jug: pour to the 1200 ml line. Dr Pepper - Equal parts, and cold - the whole point is the two together
- 12 wedges Lime wedge (optional)
- 2839 ml Measuring jug A measuring jug: pour to the 2839 ml line. Ice
Measured in Millilitres (UK). Sign in to read these in American measures. Print a kitchen card at this size.
What the jigger, the spoons and the jug hold, in millilitres and in fluid ounces, is on the measures reference.
Quick version
- Half red wine, half cold Dr Pepper, over a lot of ice.
Method
Batch (12 drinks)Batch (12 drinks) - about 5.24 l of measured ingredients, before ice and dilution.
Timings and per-glass steps below are written for one drink and are not scaled. A full jug takes longer to chill, so stir or shake until it is properly cold rather than by the clock, and pour over fresh ice one glass at a time.
- Fill a highball glass with ice.
- Pour in the red wine.
- Top with the Dr Pepper, in roughly equal measure.
- Stir once, and squeeze a wedge of lime over the top.
Serve it
Volumes in this story are multiplied for the size above, along with the ingredients. Years, ratios and the capacities of glasses and jugs are left as written.
Calimocho
In the Basque country this is called kalimotxo, and it is said to have been invented by accident at a festival in the 1970s when somebody discovered that a cheap red wine and a cheap cola together taste better than either of them apart. It is the drink of Spanish street parties and of anyone who has ever looked at a bottle of wine and a bottle of pop and thought: why not.
Made with Dr Pepper rather than a plain cola it is a different - and better - drink. The cherry and spice of the soda meet the fruit in the wine, the wine's own tannin keeps it from being sweet, and what comes out tastes like a very grown-up sangria you can make in ten seconds.
Getting it right
The wine matters less than you would think and the temperature matters more than you would believe: both bottles want to be cold and the glass wants a lot of ice. Use a young, fruity, uncomplicated red - a Rioja joven or anything labelled "jammy" - and keep the parts equal, which is the proportion the drink is famous for. A squeeze of lime over the top brightens the whole thing, and a slice of orange in the glass makes it a party rather than a picnic.
Tasting notes
Sharp cherry and bramble fruit, a gentle fizz, and a dry finish from the wine that arrives just when you expect it to be sweet. Refreshing, faintly rustic and extremely good in the sun.
Serve it in a jug for a crowd, with fruit and ice, and tell nobody what is in it until they have had a glass.