If you have only ever had port in a small glass after dinner, 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 café table in Porto. Porto tónico has become the go-to summer aperitif all over Portugal in the last decade or so, and it is very 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.
Porto Tónico Recipe
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
- Fill a tall glass generously with ice.
- Pour in the white port.
- 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.
- Stir once, gently, to combine without knocking the fizz out of the tonic.
- Garnish with the orange peel or mint sprig and serve immediately, ice cold.
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