The most famous drink at Seville's Feria actually comes from Granada

'Rebujito' was invented in 1985 by a group of pharmacists who needed a drink to cool down

A. Arenas | Ideal

Friday, 19 April 2024, 14:02

All eyes are currently on the Andalusian city of Seville and its famous 'Feria de Abril' (April fair). The drink that is most associated with the festivities is 'Rebujito'. However, this drink did not originate in Seville, but in Granada. Nowadays no Andalusian fiesta is complete without it.

Like many inventions, Rebujito isn't the result of in-depth studies or commercial campaigns but of pure chance. The pharmacist Antonio Baquero explained. "Rebujito is a drink created by the pharmacists of Granada at the Corpus Christi Fair in 1985."

At the time Francisco Ortiz de Saracho was president of the governing board of the Official College of Pharmacists of Granada, and other members included José Luis Nestares García-Trevijano, Paco Fidalgo, Jesús Cabo, who have all since passed away.

Authentic pharmacy

They were joined by Pepe Parejo and, as bar managers, Luis and Andrés, from the bar in the Faculty of Pharmacy, who were witnesses to the creation of this drink. They were all part of the same 'caseta' at the fair.

A year earlier, the Caseta of the Real Club de Farmacéuticos de Sevilla was born at the Seville fair. Their counterparts in Granada borrowed some of their decorative elements for their tent at the Corpus Christi fair and it was christened 'La Rebotica'. It resembled an authentic pharmacy, so much so that some of the women from Granada's Almanjáyar area came with their babies to try to buy baby milk and food.

It was while setting up the caseta that the men had to find something to drink to cool down in the heat. Among the junk, boxes and leftovers from the previous year, they found a couple of cases of bottles of amontillado wine from Laboratorio Calmante Vitaminado, which had been sent to them by its owner Diego Pérez Giménez.

Name

After tasting it, they found that it was a bit dry so they decided to add some soft drink, in this case Seven Up. The fact is that the flavour improved so much and the result was so good that "during the rest of the set-up of the caseta and throughout the Corpus Christi festivities, it became the drink of the day, but this time with Sprite".

In fact, Parejo says that they quickly ran out. As for the name, Baquero explains that García-Trevijano or Güí, as he was known to friends, recalled that in Huelva they used the name 'rebujo' for a wine that was mixed with sugar and carbonated water.

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