Tinto de Verano vs. Calimocho: Spanish Smackdown 2013

As someone commented last week, 2-Euro chuck isn't all that it's cracked up to be. Fortunately, the Spaniards have a way of dealing with situations like this: just add soda! Two common options are tinto de verano, which is red wine mixed with Fanta Limón, and calimocho, which is red wine mixed with Coca Cola.

On the surface, neither of these options sounds very appealing to me, but I figure that the result can't be much worse than the wine by itself. So, let's give it a shot! Mixing equal parts wine and soda results in a nice maroon color in the case of tinto de verano, while the calimocho exhibits a deep shade of purple.

In the end, the results weren't too bad. Given the quality of the ingredients involved, I would say that this is one of those situations where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. I definitely prefer a good wine over either of these, but I can see how they would be fairly refreshing during a hot summer day on the beach. The final verdict: 3/4 of a thumbs up for the tinto de verano, and 1/2 of a thumbs up for the calimocho.