Porto Tónico (Port and Tonic Cocktail)

If you have only ever had port wine in a small glass after Thanksgiving dinner, next to the pumpkin pie, I need you to picture something completely different: a tall glass, lots of ice, and a fizzy, herbal tonic cutting through sweet white port on a hot afternoon at a cafe table in Porto. Porto tonico has become the go-to summer aperitif all over Portugal in the last decade or so, the kind of drink you order before lunch without anyone blinking, and it is criminally easy to make at home.

The key is white port, not the ruby or tawny styles you might already have in the cabinet from a holiday gift basket. White port is lighter, a little nutty, and made for mixing rather than sipping slowly by the fire. Pair the glass with a bowl of tremoços (the marinated lupini beans recipe is on the site) or some olives and you have the exact scene from every outdoor cafe table in Lisbon in July.

My kids have zero interest in this one, obviously, but it has become my husband’s and my unofficial signal that the workday is over and the porch chairs are calling.

Porto Tónico Recipe

Prep time: 5 minutes · Cook time: 0 minutes · Total: 5 minutes · Servings: 1 · Calories: ~150 per serving

Ingredients

• 3 oz white port
• 3 oz good-quality tonic water, chilled
• Ice
• 1 strip orange peel, or a sprig of fresh mint
• Splash of soda water, optional

Instructions

1. Fill a tall glass generously with ice.
2. Pour in the white port.
3. Top slowly with the tonic water so it does not fizz over, and add a splash of soda water if you like it lighter and less sweet.
4. Stir once, gently, to combine without knocking the fizz out of the tonic.
5. Garnish with the orange peel or mint sprig and serve immediately, ice cold.

Recipe Notes

• A quality tonic water matters more than the port here; a cheap, overly sweet tonic will flatten the whole drink.
• White port can be found at most well-stocked liquor stores; if yours does not carry it, a dry Lillet Blanc makes a reasonable substitute in a pinch, though the flavor leans more floral than nutty.
• Ratios vary by taste. Some cafes pour closer to 1 part port to 2 parts tonic for a lighter drink; start at 1:1 and adjust from there.
• This is meant to be drunk fresh and cold. Do not batch it ahead, since the tonic loses its fizz.