Kalimotxo Recipe

Red wine and coke?? Are you mad??? Oh yes we are! Kalimotxo is classic summer drink, also known as ‘Cocavino’ or in the old days as ‘Rioja Libre’ or ‘Cuba Libre del Pobre’ (poor man’s Cuba Libre). The current name Kalimotxo is attributed to a circle of friends that during the 1972 Puerto Viejo festivities in Getxo (Basque Country) noticed that the wine they had bought to sell was not in a good condition, so they decided to mix it with cola to kill the sour taste. The inventors of the mixture named it after two friends of the group, ‘Kalimero’ and ‘Motxo’, hence the name ‘Kalimotxo’. Nowadays, it is a popular drink consumed during all type of festivities across Spain. Our recipe is far more posh that the usual festivity mixture, using a bottle of young Rioja and blending it with fresh oranges and limes for an alternative to sangria that will get you surprisingly loving it.