Where it comes from
Purchena · Tíjola · Fiñana (ponche) · Alhama de Almería (ponche de San Antón)
Sweetness, in inland Almería, is also served in a glass. In Purchena the table comes with the local wines, the mistela — grape must with aguardiente — and the "cuerva", a variant of sangría. The mistela is a generic drink of Spain's Levante, not an Almanzora invention, but in the town it belongs to the house.
In Tíjola the liqueur is made in the kitchen: quince, coffee, honey and must, aguardiente flavoured at home for fiestas and for after lunch. Every house keeps its own bottle and its own proportions.
And there is the ponche, a "kind of sangría" that appears wherever there is a fire nearby: it is served at San Sebastián in Fiñana and at the San Antón bonfires of Alhama de Almería, alongside the buñuelos and the hot chocolate. Its recipe belongs to each house, and that is the charm: you never drink the same one twice.
What it is made with
- Grape must
- Aguardiente (spirit)
- Quince, coffee or honey (depending on the liqueur)