Bevanda

Ingredients

The drink

• 150 mlDalmatian red or white wine
• 100 mlcold still water

Sometimes

• sparkling water, for a gemist
• ice, in very hot weather

To serve

• a plain tumbler
• food, alongside

Directions

1. Bevanda is wine mixed with still water.
2. It is drunk along the Croatian coast with meals.
3. It is a custom rather than a cocktail.
4. The word simply means drink or beverage.
5. Watering wine is an old Mediterranean habit.
6. It goes back to Greek and Roman practice.
7. The reason is practical rather than aesthetic.
8. It lets people drink wine through a working day.
9. It also stretches the wine, which mattered historically.
10. It is drunk with food rather than on its own.
11. Understanding the ratio is the whole thing.
12. The usual proportion is roughly three parts wine to two of water.
13. Some drinkers go half and half.
14. Others use only a splash of water.
15. The ratio shifts with the wine and with the drinker.
16. A heavy red takes more water than a light white.
17. Older people often water it more heavily.
18. Nobody measures it and everyone has their own habit.
19. Choosing the wine is the important decision.
20. Dalmatian wines are what bevanda is made with.
21. Plavac Mali is the great red grape of the coast.
22. Posip and Grk are among the white grapes.
23. The wine should be honest and unpretentious.
24. A rough young local wine is exactly right.
25. Watering an expensive bottle would be a waste.
26. It would also be considered slightly odd.
27. Understanding the water matters too.
28. Bevanda is made with still water.
29. That is what distinguishes it from a gemist.
30. Gemist is white wine with sparkling water.
31. That drink is more associated with inland Croatia.
32. Bambus is red wine mixed with cola.
33. That is a different thing again and quite modern.
34. Bevanda is specifically wine and still water.
35. The water should be cold and clean.
36. Making it takes no technique at all.
37. Pour the wine into a plain tumbler.
38. Add the cold water to the glass.
39. Stir it once if you like, or not at all.
40. There is no shaking or measuring involved.
41. That plainness is genuinely the point.
42. Serving it is a matter of custom.
43. It is served in an ordinary glass tumbler.
44. A wine glass would look wrong.
45. It is drunk with lunch and with dinner.
46. Grilled fish and lamb are the usual company.
47. It also appears at mid-morning breaks.
48. Fishermen and workers have long drunk it that way.
49. It is not a drink for a bar in the evening.
50. Adding ice is a more modern habit.
51. Some people add ice in very hot weather.
52. Older drinkers often disapprove of it.
53. Ice dilutes it further as it melts.
54. Cold water alone is the traditional approach.
55. A note on how it is regarded is worth making.
56. In some countries watering wine is thought crude.
57. On the Dalmatian coast it is entirely normal.
58. It is what most people drink at the table.
59. Ordering it in a coastal konoba is unremarkable.
60. It is drunk fresh and made one glass at a time.
61. There is no point making it in advance.

Technique

• Watering wine is an old Mediterranean practice with roots in the classical world, and survives as everyday habit on the Dalmatian coast.
• Gemist, made with sparkling water, and bambus, made with cola, are related Croatian drinks but are not the same thing.

Substitutions

• Any honest young wine works, and the local rough wine is what is traditionally used.
• Sparkling water in place of still water makes a gemist rather than a bevanda.

Variations

• Gemist uses white wine with sparkling water and belongs to inland Croatia.
• Bambus mixes red wine with cola and is a more recent habit.
• Some drinkers make it much weaker as a hot-weather drink.

History

Coastal Croatian custom of watering wine, an old Mediterranean habit that lets workers drink through the day.

Frequently asked questions

What is Bevanda?

Bevanda is a cocktail from Croatia: red or white wine mixed with still water, taken with a Dalmatian meal. Coastal Croatian custom of watering wine, an old Mediterranean habit that lets workers drink through the day.

How long does Bevanda take to make?

Bevanda takes 1 minute of preparation and none of cooking. The recipe makes 1 glass. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Bevanda?

Yes, within limits. Any honest young wine works, and the local rough wine is what is traditionally used. Sparkling water in place of still water makes a gemist rather than a bevanda.