Friday Night: : Chinchón, a mystery drink from a mystery novel (until now)

For easy reading we’ve always been fans of Spanish crime novels or el novela policíaca as they call them down Old Castile way. We normally let the detectives solve the mystery: we paid the money, let them do the work!  Until that is, we came across an intriguing mystery of our own early in the pages of Ritos de Muerte by Alicia Giménez Bartlett. Whose protagonist Petra Delicado surprised us by knocking back something called Chinchón, not once but several times in the course of the novel. It being an utter unknown to us, we decided to employ our most assiduous Forensic skills in pursuit of further knowledge. And this is what we came up with.

Chinchón is  a traditional anise liqueur from the town of Chinchón (Comunidad de Madrid), made by macerating anís verde (Pimpinella anisum) in alcohol and then distilling it. It comes in several strengths, from sweet and gentle to “knock‑your‑uncle‑over” levels of potency. The liqueur is produced exclusively in the eponymous town, where anise and vines have been cultivated since at least the 11th–12th centuries. There are four official varieties::

Dulce — 35–40% ABV, about 200 g of sugar per litre.

Seco — 40–50% ABV.

Extraseco — 50–55% ABV.

Seco Especial — a formidable 74% ABV.

If you like your drinks as a cultural marker, then this one tends to suggest Madrid. It’s an unfussy  working drink.  Something you’d find in bars where cops, civil servants, and old men argue about football. It’s usually served in a small anís glass and may be taken chilled or at room temperature. Ok, the novel is set in Barcelona: but it’s early days yet and so we await the Madrid Connection con antelación. 

Good! Mystery solved.  Now you can have a nice weekend.

Our background/showcase today comes from the Los Vinos website which seems to have content in both in English  Spanish, making it good for language learners too!

Cocktails | Chichón A Digestive Par Excellence! Los Vinos

Ritos de Muerte Alicia Giménez Bartlett 1996 Ediciones Destino

#Petra Delicado #Chinchón  #Castilian #Madrid‑#liqueur