This is ‘patxaran‘ and that is something else entirely.
Ingredients:
1 part orujo de café
2 or 3 parts soy milk*
Several ice cubes
Preparation:
As you pour the ingredients into a glass chilled by nostalgia, meditate upon the fact that the ‘firewater’ known as orujo, Northern Iberia’s (namely Galicia‘s) version of moonshine, is distilled from the residues of grapes that have already been pressed for wine. Take a gentle whiff of the thrift and dying art of the homebrew hustle.
Forget the vodka, which is often confused with water. Your beverage will produce this naturally as the ice melts at the same rapid rate as our diplomatic relations with Russia.
Feel the homesickness condensate. Watch the drops form and fall, staining your faux Persian rug from Ikea.
Shrug. Imbibe. Abide.
*Note: Do not use the milk that introduces itself en español; instead, the kind that comes from the teat of the soybean.
Elx River, painting in progress, August 2014
Basque-ing in Reflected Glory 