If you’ve been to a Feria in Seville or Jerez and watched a group of immaculately dressed people pass a jug around a casita table, that jug was a rebujito. It’s the drink that makes sherry palatable in 40-degree weather, and it’s the house pour at every spring fair in Andalucia.

What’s in it

Manzanilla or fino sherry — dry, salty, pale — cut with lemon-lime soda (7-Up, Sprite, or locally Schweppes Limón). Ratio: about one part sherry to two parts soda, over a pile of ice, with a sprig of mint if you want to get fancy. Served in a jarra (jug) to share.

Why it works

Sherry at cellar temperature is a serious drink. In summer heat, it gets medicinal. Adding cold soda turns it into something you can actually sip for hours while standing in a crowded casita watching flamenco. The sherry still shines — that dry, almond edge — but the soda carries it.

Which sherry to use

Manzanilla from Sanlúcar de Barrameda is the traditional choice — it’s slightly saltier from the sea air where it ages. Fino from Jerez works too. Don’t use amontillado, oloroso or cream sherries; they’re too rich and will clash with the soda.

Where to drink it

Feria de Abril in Seville (late April / early May) is the obvious answer — it’s the official fair drink. Outside Feria season: any good tabanco in Jerez, most sherry-focused bars in Seville like El Rinconcillo or Bar Las Teresas, or any beach chiringuito on the Costa de la Luz in July.

How to order it

Ask for ‘una jarra de rebujito’. It’ll come in a glass jug with two or three glasses depending on how many of you there are. Pour over ice. Top up as the ice melts. One jarra usually lasts a table of three about thirty minutes.

The rule

Rebujito is social. It’s what Andalusians drink when they’re standing, talking, dancing, or watching a procession. Sitting alone with a glass is fine but slightly misses the point.