Thousands are partying in downtown Boise for Jaialdi, the long awaited Basque Festival that took a decade long hiatus. Between traditional dances, street concerts and hay bale tossing competitions, attendees can sample a variety of specialties from the old country, including one very specific drink.
For the uninitiated, kalimotxos might sound rather weird. Poured over ice, the recipe is simple: two parts red wine, one part Coca Cola. But half wine, half soda also works, the two-ingredient cocktail is a pretty forgiving drink.
Working the bar at the Basque Center during the festivities, Tom Legerski said the combo makes more sense than you’d expect.
“It’s a balanced drink,” he explained. “You get the wine that brings you down, then the coke that brings you back up, and then it’s really refreshing especially on a hot day.”
Lergerski said the center sells a lot of the cocktails during festivals.
“Many, many, many, kalimotxos, ” he emphasized.
On Jaialdi’s mid-week opening night, patrons went through about 60 gallons of red wine, he said.
Mixing red wine and coke started in Spain in the 1920s when the soda was first introduced in the country, but Kalimotxos took off in 1972, at a festival in Algorta, north of Bilbao. There, a large batch of bad wine was resurrected with Coca Cola, saving 2000 liters of alcohol from being poured down the drain.
The origin of the name is still debated. One theory says it’s a combination of the names of the two enterprising young men who thought to mix the wine with the soda at the festival, Kalimero and Motxongo. Another says it comes from a nickname given to one of the festival organizers, Kalimero, nicknamed “ugly” -motxo in Basque-Kali.
Regardless, kalimotxos quickly became popular across Spain and are now a staple of any Basque party.
Some say they should specifically be made with cheap wine while purists will tell you only brand coke will do. The ones made this side of the Atlantic appear to be more generously iced, which some say give American Kalimotxos a slight edge. Meanwhile, many elders from the old country, sticking to their unadulterated wine, can only share their heads at all this nonsense.
So, is it wasted wine to mix it with coke and ice? There’s really only one way to find out.
Kalimotxos will be served all weekend on the Basque block.
