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Ginjinha
A sweet sour cherry liqueur synonymous with Lisbon, sipped from tiny cups at hole-in-the-wall bars.
Ginjinha is a liqueur made by infusing sour cherries (ginjas) in aguardente with sugar and cinnamon. It has been produced in Lisbon since the 1840s, when a Galician friar named Espinheira first sold it near Largo de São Domingos. The liqueur is intensely sweet with the tart brightness of the cherries cutting through the sugar.
Drinking ginjinha is a Lisbon ritual: tiny cups are served at narrow-fronted bars like A Ginjinha and the neighbouring competitor on Largo de São Domingos. The eternal question is "com elas ou sem elas?" — with or without the booze-soaked cherries at the bottom. Óbidos has its own ginjinha tradition, serving the liqueur in small chocolate cups.
