The Etiquette of the Chupito
Most articles about wine tell you how to find value for money, or educate you a little about wines you may never have come across. In this way discerning readers should be able to reduce the amount of money they spend on wine, while at the same time upping the quality of their regular tipples.
However there are no guarantees. I remember some years ago receiving a phone call asking me to recommend a champagne for his daughter’s wedding. I say ‘reader’ guardedly, since I had written about value-for-money champagnes the week prior to his call! Ah well, there are readers and…..er, readers.
But here is a piece about booze where there can be no mistake. You will definitely benefit economically if you follow the advice here. Not a lot of money, but just enough to make you feel the restaurant meal you just ate was rounded off in a civilised – and economic – manner. This will not necessarily apply to all of you, since many of my more enlightened readers will already have become familiar with the etiquette of the chupito, and are already holding the high ground without the benefit of my advice. Nevertheless, as in all matters of etiquette, there are rules to be observed, and failure to play by the book will result in unhappiness and even a sense of rejection.
A chupito, from the verb chupar (according to the Diccionario Enciclopédico Espasa: “Chupito”, de chupar, m., Sorbito de vino u otro licor) is a shot glass of strong alcohol, served at the conclusion of a meal.
However, in spite of what the dictionary says, the alcohol concerned is typically orujo (a Galician distillation of white grapes), and licor de hierbas (similar, but with sweet liquor and herbs). Lately, this small selection has been extended to include the berry-flavoured anisette, pacharán, and various apple and pear liquors of lesser strength. The true chupito aficionado looks down his nose at these variations. And further afield, above all in the big cities, a chupito can be anything from a fruit cocktail to beer with lime juice. But these are aberrations!
“….there are rules to be observed, and failure to play by the book will result in unhappiness and even a sense of rejection.”
So, a chupito is always served in a frosted glass from a bottle which is kept in the freezer. It is never served with ice. The whole point is that it is a free gift from the restaurant where you have just lunched or dined. You never ask for it (directly anyway, more of this later), and you do not ask for more than one glass - unless the waiter leaves the bottle or bottles on the table. This is also a good guide as to whether you are a respected customer or not. Respected customers usually get to have the bottles left on their tables, while lesser mortals get one glass.
A chupito is not to be confused with an invitación de la casa, where the waiter, after the bill has been settled, will invite everyone at the table to a drink on the house. In these circumstances the sky is the limit, and although the occasional eye may be batted if you order a 15-year single malt, it will never be refused. However this is not humble chupito territory, since chupitos do not tend to be found in star restaurants; don’t expect to be offered one at the Marbella Club or La Meridiana (although you may get an invitación de la casa at these places – if you spend enough!).
So, how do you qualify for a chupito? Ah, that’s the trick.
I’ve seen people miming the pouring of something into imaginary glasses under the waiter’s nose, and I’ve even seen one man making kissing noises through pouting lips in the direction of the bar. (He didn’t get a chupito, but the barman did come over to see who it was that apparently fancied him.).
You would not dream of asking out loud for a chupito. At least that’s the theory. In practice, and assuming you are a regular customer and on rather more than nodding terms with the owner, you may ask – although if he forgot to offer you a chupito in the first place it was clearly a managerial oversight.
If it’s your first time in a restaurant and you’ve enjoyed your meal, congratulated the waiter and told him to pass on your felicitations to the chef, you may feel you have earned a chupito – but none appears. The best way of dealing with this situation is to mention, ever so casually – always after the bill has been settled – that you fancy something strong but in a very small quantity. (“A ver, me apetece alguna cosa fuerte para hacer la digestión, pero muy poca cantidad”).
It will then be a surly waiter or owner who does not take this hint. It may even get you an invitación de la casa, to which your reaction should be (unless you really want a longer drink), no, I fancy something small. Of course you run the risk of getting a second bill for Consumisión barra, but generally it’s unlikely.
“He didn’t get a chupito, but the barman did come over to see who it was that apparently fancied him.”
If you ask outright, you will get a chupito, and usually at the correct time, which is with the coffee. Again…. there is a small chance that you may find it on your bill, but very small.
So what is the best chupito?
In all male company (so its lunch then….) most will go for a dry orujo. Although there are cheap and nasty versions of this – and you run the risk of getting one since it’s coming free – a reasonable restaurant will have at least a middle-of-the-road version, and if it is a Galician restaurant there may even be a selection.
However some men(?) find the dry version too strong, and prefer to cut it with 50% licor de hierbas. This is actually a pleasant way to get introduced to the chupito, and you can cut back on the sweeter liquor, as you become more accustomed to the real thing. Ladies of course (we’re at dinner now) will almost certainly reject the firewater and choose the licor de hierbas, or even more likely an apple liquor which comes in at about 32º alcohol, or an even weaker pacharán, compared with the real stuff’s 45º – or more.
Although the cost to the restaurant of serving tiny glasses of liquor is negligible, it must be remembered that this is because the price of high alcohol drinks in Spain is still laughable compared with most of the rest of Europe. So don’t wait for our lords and masters in Brussels to tax the stuff off the map – as they surely will eventually. Get the chupito habit now.
Good chupito hunting grounds are El Portalón, Sidrería Manolo, La Baraka, La Judería, Joseba, La Menorah, Mesana, and Vila do Grove. There must be dozens of others, but the ones mentioned also have good food…
