The Mediterranean island of Menorca—essentially the most northern and japanese of Spain’s Balearic Islands—is synonymous with vibrant summer time village fiestas, horses and gin. (The latter two outline the primary.) Over the summer time, each city on the island celebrates its patron saint with horses—magnificent black stallions with braided manes and riders in formal finery parading amongst crowds—and a gradual pouring of pomada, a beloved mix of gin and lemonade (or lemon soda).
The fiestas within the village within the middle of the island (inhabitants: 4,800) happen in mid-July, however on the finish of June a municipal officer reads out a proclamation (pregón) saying their official starting, after which the city corridor serves residents the 12 months’s first pomada—some 160 liters (40 gallons) price this 12 months—because the village band performs. Two weeks of occasions construct to a raucous remaining weekend that features distinctive horsemanship and nonstop socializing. Many homes within the village are open as mates and acquaintances go from one to a different, chatting and being served—with out exception—small glasses of pomada, often dipped from a bowl with a small ladle. Refreshing and icy chilly, a contact tart from native lemons and aromatic with the fragrant, light-bodied Menorcan gin, it goes down simply.
Gin has lengthy been the island’s official spirit. Manufacturing in Menorca is exclusive to the Balearic Islands, and stems from its historic hyperlinks with Britain, which dominated for a lot of the 18th century. Distilling the spirit from wine, Menorcans started making gin for sailors to devour within the port’s bars—and saved doing so after the fleet lastly sailed away for the final time in 1802.
For the reason that starting of the twentieth century, Xoriguer, positioned on the finish of Mahón’s port, has been the main producer. Made in centuries-old wood-fired copper stills with juniper berries from the Catalan Pyrenees, flavored with native herbs and saved in oak barrels till bottling, it’s a dry, herbaceous gin with a pronounced style of juniper—flavors that give pomada its distinctive style. For a lot of islanders, pomada shouldn’t be pomada with out Xoriguer gin.
Regardless of its ubiquity throughout the island, pomada is a comparatively current creation. Few villagers recall its presence earlier than the Seventies, however by the tip of that decade, it had grow to be a calling card for the area through the fiesta season (assume Munich and beer throughout Oktoberfest). A attainable clue to its origins may be present in a 15-year-old article within the native newspaper. That story credit an alcoholic barman who hid his gin downside from his spouse by placing the liquor in carbonated lemon soda, a mix he began serving within the institution he ran in Mahón. He christened it pomada, or “ointment.” Simply don’t ask for it by that identify in Ciutadella, the elegant onetime capital within the west, the place they insist on calling it gin amb llimonada (“gin with lemonade”). Ask for a pomada there, and also you’ll inevitably be directed to the closest pharmacy.
The traditional proportions are one half gin to a few components contemporary lemonade or lemon soda—Kas or the marginally sweeter Fanta are the commonest choices—or a mix of freshly squeezed juice and soda. Whereas initially served on the rocks, up to now few years it has grow to be widespread to function a granita. At house, that is executed by mixing the substances in an empty 1.5-liter plastic water bottle or a 2-liter soda bottle and popping it into the freezer. The bottles can both be eliminated earlier than they’re utterly frozen, shaking to get the slushy ice crystals, or left to freeze utterly and pulled out a few hours upfront. The latter is especially widespread when households put together 60 or 80 liters of pomada to serve throughout the principle weekend of the fiestas.
Whereas mixing gin with lemon juice is hardly novel, pomada stands aside for its inherently sharable nature. It’s, in the beginning, a celebration drink. Whereas pomada may be made as a person serving—some bars merely pour gin and lemon soda over ice and garnish with a lemon slice—few individuals achieve this. As an alternative, it’s ready as a batch to be shared with others. However solely in summer time. As soon as mid-September hits, pomada merely disappears. But for these three or 4 sunny months, the drink reigns supreme.
At a good friend’s place through the current fiestas, I overheard the host say, “It looks as if fewer individuals in the home this 12 months.” Her husband appeared round on the dozen or so standing in the lounge with small paper cups, and replied, “Maybe, however we’ve already served 50 liters of pomada as we speak.”
