Ginjinha (sour cherry, Prunus cerasus austera, Morello cherry) is a Portuguese liqueur created by infusing Ginja berries (sour cherry, Prunus cerasus austera, Morello cherry) in alcohol (Aguardente) and adding sugar and other ingredients, the most frequent of which are cloves and/or cinnamon sticks. Ginjinha is served in shot glasses with a piece of fruit in the bottom. Ginjinha bars will serve it with (com) or without (sem) the cherries, according to your preference. Try it out, com. The morello cherry has an unexpected but not unpleasant bitter flavour that balances out the sweetness in the mouth. The resulting deep-red liqueur contains between 23 and 25 percent alcohol by volume.
Many Portuguese consider it to be their favourite liqueur, and it is a popular drink in Lisbon, Alcobaça, Bidos, and the Algarve. Serra da Estrela Ginja is a protected geographical indication. Small taverns with archaic interiors selling Ginjinha, the local name for morello cherry brandy, are one of the more unique elements in the streets around Rossio, Lisbon’s bustling central square.
Ginjinha by the bottle is available in most bars across Portugal, but only around Lisbon’s Rossio Square will you find a smattering of cupboard-sized bars serving pure, high-quality Ginjinha straight from the decanter. However, it is easy to walk right past them and not notice them. Their doorways are narrow and ordinary, with a small 19th-century-style bar almost hidden inside with standing room only, so there’s essentially no place to sit. Ginjinha is traditionally drunk in a single gulp, straight ‘down the hatch,’ as the popular expression goes. However, the peculiar flavour of the drink is best appreciated with small sips, and it’s even said to be good for the chest and digestion, making it the ideal after-meal drink.
Ginjinha is a pungent liqueur that is sweet but not sugary and has a slow-burning fuse that is just starting to make its mark when it starts to warm the belly. Morello cherries were brought to Europe from South-East Asia centuries ago and are now primarily grown in the country’s central and northern regions. A Ginjinha shot is traditionally poured from a glass decanter, always with a wooden stopper, with such speed and skill that only two or three cherries fall out before the glass fills to the brim.
The most famous of all the bars (and now the only one exclusively selling Ginjinha) is not surprisingly called A Ginjinha and is located on Largo de So Domingos, just a short distance from the Dona Maria II National Theatre. And, not far from A Ginjinha, there’s Ginjinha Sem Rival, a bar no bigger than its doorway, but the morello cherry brandy is just as good. You’ll probably want to go to both because one glass of ginjinha is never enough.
