Alcoholic Beverages, Sevilla

Sangria is lovely, because it has lots of fruit in it and I am a big fan of fruit. It is however, rather hard to get hold of Sevilla, if you don`t know where to go.
On Calle Mateus Gago, the bar after Las Columnas, they have one of the best Sangrias I found in Sevilla, but they do also run out of it towards the end of the night!
As a super alternative though, and to be honest I often prefered it because it`s less sweet and more refreshing, is tinto de verrano (summer wine).
Tinto de verrano, which you can get in any bar and normally costs the same as a beer (or less), is red wine mixed either with fanta (or own brand!) lemon, orange or with Casera (like Sprite light but less flavour).
The blanca version (i.e with casera) is less fruity (recommended if you are having several!) and the lemon version almost like sangria (but without the fruit).

El Botellon means basically drinking and partying in the street but always among civilized terms, as drinking is Spain constitutes much more a social activity than a pretext to get yourself awfully drunken. If not the mayor Spanish contribution to the humankind (the honor of that position relays on the "siesta") certainly the art of partying in the middle of the street is something in which we Spaniards excel.
For good or worse, this custom has being eradicated from certain areas of Spain, sadly being Madrid, my hometown, among them. Things are quite different in Sevilla and the rest of Andalucia, though, and being part of El Botellón is probably the best way to explore Sevilla’s nightlife.

In McDonalds, for example. Or in the corner market, the bread store, a drink machine. You can find beer almost anywhere. And that goes for liquor as well. Not controlled by some puritan state law, you can buy a bottle of whisky in most food stores, as well as get a mixed drink in most any bar. While not always the case, many drink here in moderation. Sure, six or so drinks are nice, but not in the same place. Making, or rather walking, your way to each bar tends to burn that stuff off. Many prefer a beer or wine with lunch or dinner rather than a Coke.

It runs through the river between el centro and Triana, but it also is a popular drink offered at a few bars here. Try this instead of sangria if you're feeling bold. Don't finish the night up with a pitcher of it, though, as it packs a punch. Served in jaras (pitcher) or media jaras (half-pitchers) be prepared to pay a hefty price - anywhere from 20-30€ for a pitcher. Here's what's in it (it may vary a bit from place to place):

-zumo de piña (pineapple juice)
-champagne
-whisky
-ron (rum)
-Licor 43
-Cointreau
-nata (whipped cream: on top and then stirred in)
-azucar moreno (brown sugar)
hielo (ice)

Many travelers think of Spain and they automatically think of casually sipping sangria outside a bar. The problem is most bars don't have sangria, and more often than not those that do are tourist bars. Sangria is a wonderful drink, they just don't go to the trouble of making it every day in every bar. I see many tourists pointing at glasses of tinto de verano and asking the bartender for sangria. So what is a tinto de verano? It's red wine on ice mixed with your choice of soda: blanco, limon or naranja. If you are dying to try sangria but can't find it anywhere try this instead. While simpler and not exactly the same it does the trick. Plus it's easier to make at home when you get back to the states.

This is our favorite place that we like to go and drink sangria and sit and watch the world go by.

It is in a little square in the Santa Cruz area of the old city and is a stone throw away from the Alcazar, the church as well as the shopping area.

Be sure to get a pitcher of sangria and eat the fruit in the glass when done.