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Beer, Wine, and More in Spanish!

When traveling in a foreign country, you might want to order a glass of wine with dinner or have a beer with friends. But do you know how to say "wine" and "beer" in Spanish? In this lesson, we will teach you the words for those bebidas (beverages) as well as the names for several of the most popular liquors... just in case you want to have a trago (alcoholic beverage) instead!

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Beer

The standard word for beer in Spanish is cerveza:

 

"Llevo tres cervezas y todavía tengo sed", 

"I've had three beers, and I'm still thirsty,"

Caption 34, Aprendiendo con Silvia Significados, usos y expresiones con "quedar" - Part 6

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However, you might hear such colloquial words for beer in different countries such as chop (Argentina, Bolivia, Uruguay), chela (Mexico), caña (Spain), or pola (in Colombian slang). 

 

Wine 

The word for wine in Spanish is vino. Let's hear it in action:

 

hay vino blanco.

there's white wine.

Caption 24, Ariana Cena especial

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As we just heard, vino blanco is "white wine" in Spanish. Now, let's find out how to say "red wine," which might be different than you thought!

 

Vino tinto es como se refiere al vino rojo en el resto del mundo, aquí en España. 

"Vino tinto"  is the name here in Spain for what's called "red wine" in the rest of the world.

Caption 50, Amaya Cata de vinos

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And, for fans of rosé, let's learn how to say it!
 

El vino rosado puede venir de variedades blancas mezcladas con tintas

Rosé wine can come from white varieties mixed with red ones

Caption 14, Feria de Vinos Españoles en Londres Bodegas Quiroga de Pablo

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Rosé wine can also be referred to in Spanish as rose, rosé, or simply rosado

 

Sparkling Wine

"Sparkling wine" is the more general category for bubbly wines like champagne, cava, and prosecco. Let's learn how to say a few of these terms in Spanish:

 

El cava es el vino espumoso de España que sigue el mismo método que... que el champán,

Cava is the sparkling wine from Spain that follows the same method as... as champagne,

Captions 13-14, Feria de Vinos Españoles en Londres Bodegas Castell D'Age

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Alternatively, the words champaña or champagne itself may be used for "champagne."

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Liquor

Let's hear the names for many of the world's most popular types of liquor in the context of videos from our Spanish library.

 

Cognac:

Está Elisa elaborando unas trufitas de coñac 

Elisa is making some little cognac truffles

Caption 9, Horno San Onofre El Chocolate

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Gin: 

Su mujer era Ginebra

His wife was Guinevere,

Caption 42, El Aula Azul Adivina personajes históricos - Part 1

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Although in this clip, Ginebra is the translation for the name Guinevere, the word ginebra in Spanish also means "gin."

 

Mezcal:

de Tequila su mezcal 

from Tequila, its mezcal

Caption 45, El Ausente Acto 2 - Part 3

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Rum:

Lo que no puedes dejar de probar si vas a Cuba es el Ron Santiago,

What you can't miss trying if you go to Cuba is Ron Santiago [Santiago Rum],

Caption 24, Viajando con Fermín La Feria Internacional de los Países de Fuengirola - Part 3

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Tequila: 

Con un... -Claro, claro, sí. -la botella de tequila.

With a... -Of course, of course, yes. -the bottle of tequila.

Caption 40, Hispanoamericanos en Berlín Karla y Fernando hablan de música

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Vodka:

Mis pensamientos son tan puros como vodka caro 

My thoughts are as pure as expensive vodka

Caption 5, Joselo Sobriedad

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Whiskey:

¡No tomo whisky! -¡Pero hacete hombre de una vez, che!

I don't drink whiskey! -But become a man once and for all!

Caption 23, Muñeca Brava 2 Venganza - Part 3

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And, as subcategories of whiskey, we have "Scotch," which can be known as whisky/güisgui escosés, or simply escosés and "bourbon" (bourbon, borbón, whisky/güisgui americano or borbónico).

 

Local Liquors:

Of course, in addition to these internationally renowned liquors, it might be interesting to try local favorites like fernet in Argentina, pisco in Peru, cocuy in Venezuela or aguardiente in Colombia, just to name a few, either alone or in the context of cócteles (cocktails).

 

Armed with this information, we hope you now feel equipped to order your favorite alcoholic beverage in Spanish, should you choose to. 
Just remember to do so in moderation (so as not to have to describe your hangover in Spanish), and write us with any of your comments, questions, or suggestions¡Salud (Cheers)!

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Vocabulary

El resto / Lo Demás - There's More to the Story

After pianist Carli Muñoz tells us about his formative musical years, he wraps up with:

 

Y ya, el resto es historia.

And that's it, the rest is history.

Caption 75, Carli Muñoz - Niñez

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Well, it's pretty easy for native English speakers: "El resto" means "the rest" or "the remainder."

Carli could just as well have used lo demás and the meaning
would have been the same.

...lo demás es historia...
...the rest is history...

Lo demás also means "the rest" or "the remainder" and is reserved for referring to abstract concepts (such as "the story") or an indefinite/unspecific group of things.

Te amo y lo demás no importa. [abstract concept]
I love you and the rest is not important
(nothing else matters).

Trae la valija negra y lo demás dejalo en el living. [things/stuff]
Bring the black suitcase and leave the rest (of it) in the living room.

When referring to people, the singular lo demás is not ever used, however the plural los demás is used (and used often):

 

Me siento tan feliz de ver la vida como los demás

I feel so happy to see life like all the rest (the way everyone else does)

Caption 23, Joselo - Sobriedad

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Muchos espectadores se fueron, pero los demás aplaudieron.
Many of the spectators left, but the rest applauded.

Los demas also comes into play if we are talking about specific remaining items in a group of things.

Yo quiero tres galletas. Puedes dar los demás a tus amigos.
I want three cookies. You can give the rest to your friends.

El resto can also be used when talking about people, or rather when talking about people as a singular group:

Muchos espectadores se fueron, pero el resto (de los espectadores) aplaudió.
Many of the spectators left, but the rest applauded.

Note that what we wouldn't want to do in the above example is use los restos (in an attempt to pluralize el resto), because we would no longer be talking about the remaining spectators, but rather about their "mortal remains."

 

Ubican, el pancito, los oritos, los alimentos en sí, en el lugar mismo donde que está ubicado en este caso, los restos mortales de sus familiares.

They place, the bread, the gold, the food itself, in the same place where it's located in this case, the mortal remains of their relatives.

Captions 12-14, Tradiciones indígenas - Visitando los difuntos

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Olga pidió que llevaran los restos de su padre a Roma, donde él vivió sus últimos años.
Olga asked that her father's remains be returned to Rome, where he spent his last years.

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If you'd like to bend your cabeza around this topic some more, there is a discussion in wordreference.com that you are sure to enjoy reading.

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Drink Up!

Joselo's song titled Sobriedad ("sobriety") is dripping with references to booze. We counted seven kinds of alcoholic beverages in the lyrics: pisco sour, champaña, vino blanco, whiskey, vodka, gin and tonic, and vino tinto. Most of these drinks need no translation to English speakers, but we have a few tips for reading bar menus.

  • Pisco sour is claimed to be the national drink of both Chile and Peru. Both South American countries produce pisco -a type of brandy or liquor distilled from grapes, usually Quebranta or Muscat varieties.
     
  • Vino, as almost everyone knows, is "wine." This song mentions both white and red wine -- or, vino blanco y tinto. Tinto?, you may ask. Not rojo ("red")? Yes, you read that correctly. A common rookie error in Spanish is to assume "red wine" is vino rojo. But that order is more likely to get you some sort of rosé or vino rosado. Remember to use the word tinto to get your classic red wine.
     
  • Champaña sounds familiar, no? As you guessed, it's "Champagne" in English and the original French. It's also known as champán in the Spanish-speaking world.

Ok. Now whiskey, vodka and gin and tonic are just what you think they are. Incidentally, "whiskey" (pronounced 'wee-skee') is often what you say when someone takes your photo, in order to smile as wide in Spanish as you do in English when you say "cheese."

 

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