The Lisbon Connection

When walking to ‘Restauradores’ or ‘Rossio’ be sure to stop at the ‘A Ginjinha’ cafe.

This is a tiny bar where a maximum of three people can go in at a time and order a Ginja.

Ginja or Ginjinha as most people call it, is a liqueur made of a cherry-like berry called (not surprisingly) Ginja. The berries are fermented into a brandy that’s slightly bitter, slightly sweet and very sticky.

You can order a Ginja for little money and with or without a cherry in it. The Ginja’s are on the bottom of the bottle and it requires a fair bit of skill to get just one berry into a glass. Most Portugese people like to have their Ginjinha ‘com Ginja’, with a cherry in the glass. If you don’t want it, ask for one ‘sem Ginja’ (without a Ginja).

The older Portugese men drink their Ginja in one time. After this, they suck on the berry for a while and spit the pit onto the streets.

There’s no specific time for drinking a Ginja, the Portugese tend to drink all day and ‘A Ginjinha’ is open from early morning.