I visited Lisbon in 2017, remodeling was going on everywhere as it was being tabbed as the best investment in Europe. our tuk tuk driver took us to a narrow street neighborhood of outdoor restaurants grilling fish and meats outside, I assume that was Alfama. would love to return and as always your writing may inspire me to do so.
Apr 2, 2023·edited Apr 2, 2023Liked by Jason Wilson
Planning a trip to Lisbon soon and I was doing some research into Ginjinha. Are the ginjinha bars in Portugal mostly run by companies that make bottled ginjinha as their primary business? Ginjinha Sem Rival for example has bottled Ginja Sem Rival that they seem to sell in other stores. A Ginjinha, run by the Espinheira family, has Ginja Espinheira that they also sell in other stores. I was even able to find some retailers in the US that sell Espinheira. From my cursory research it seems like you basically have ginjinha producers that as a secondary business also run bars - is that the right way to think about it?
I think it's traditionally the other way around. These date to the late 19th century and so they were probably bars first that sold a housemade specialty and then they started bottling and selling the housemade specialty. It's similar to how every cafe in Torino had their own vermouth or bitter and some of them eventually became bottled and sold widely.
Love the idea that the best places aren’t "touristy" or "local" they just are.
Yes!
I visited Lisbon in 2017, remodeling was going on everywhere as it was being tabbed as the best investment in Europe. our tuk tuk driver took us to a narrow street neighborhood of outdoor restaurants grilling fish and meats outside, I assume that was Alfama. would love to return and as always your writing may inspire me to do so.
Do it! Thanks!
Planning a trip to Lisbon soon and I was doing some research into Ginjinha. Are the ginjinha bars in Portugal mostly run by companies that make bottled ginjinha as their primary business? Ginjinha Sem Rival for example has bottled Ginja Sem Rival that they seem to sell in other stores. A Ginjinha, run by the Espinheira family, has Ginja Espinheira that they also sell in other stores. I was even able to find some retailers in the US that sell Espinheira. From my cursory research it seems like you basically have ginjinha producers that as a secondary business also run bars - is that the right way to think about it?
I think it's traditionally the other way around. These date to the late 19th century and so they were probably bars first that sold a housemade specialty and then they started bottling and selling the housemade specialty. It's similar to how every cafe in Torino had their own vermouth or bitter and some of them eventually became bottled and sold widely.
That makes sense. Thanks Jason!