A Ginjinha

Food · BaixaLisbon,Portugal

One Lisbon doorway that has sold the same sour cherry liqueur since 1840, drunk in two minutes standing on the pavement outside.

A Ginjinha is a single doorway that has sold one drink since 1840. Ginjinha is sour cherries steeped in spirit with sugar, and the whole establishment is a counter, a bottle, a row of small glasses and a hatch onto the pavement. You order, you are handed a glass, you step aside because someone is behind you, and you drink it standing on the square. The question you will be asked is com or sem elas, meaning with or without the cherries in the bottom of the glass. They have been sitting in alcohol for months and are eaten after the drink. The square outside, at the top of the Rossio, is one of the busiest and most mixed in the city. The crowd on the pavement in front of this door is a permanent part of it: office workers, tourists and old men who have been coming for decades, all drinking the same thing for about two minutes.

Worth knowing

Good to know

Say com elas the first time — with the cherries in the bottom of the glass; sem elas is the same drink and the same price without them.
Drink it and move — the pavement in front of the door is the whole premises, there is a queue behind you, and the glass goes back on the counter when you are done.
Bring small change — the counter moves fast, and it is not the place to break a large note or wait on a card machine.
The square is a pickpocket spot after dark — the crowd is packed together with drinks in their hands and their attention on each other, so keep your bag in front of you.

Things to do

1
Order com elas and stand on the square
Ask for one with the cherries, take the glass through the doorway, step out onto the pavement and drink it there. That is the entire experience and it takes about two minutes. Then hand the glass back to the counter, because there is nowhere else to put it.
2
Watch the door for five minutes
Stand a little back and look at who comes. Regulars order without speaking, tourists photograph the sign, and the man behind the counter pours without stopping. One doorway serves the whole square, and watching that go on is more of a reason to stop here than the drink itself.
3
Compare it with the second counter
There are other ginjinha counters within a few streets, and each pours its own house recipe with a different balance of sugar and spirit. Trying two in one evening lets you taste the difference between the houses, which is what the regulars drinking beside you are doing.