Refajo Cocktail Recipe
Colombia's easy-going picnic drink: cold lager cut with sweet red Colombiana soda into a light, fizzy, barely boozy refresher.
- Category: Popular
- Glass: Highball glass
- ABV: 2%
- Difficulty: Easy
- Prep time: ~3 min
Ingredients
- Lager beer200 ml (6.8 oz)
- Colombiana (red kola soda)200 ml (6.8 oz)
How to Make It
- Chill both the beer and the Colombiana thoroughly.
- Pour equal parts beer and Colombiana into a pitcher or straight into a highball glass.
- Stir once, gently, to keep the fizz.
- Serve cold, with or without ice.
Garnish
Lime wedge
What it tastes like
The sweetness is pronounced, it is carbonated and it is low in alcohol.
The technique
Built in the glass. Ice goes into the serving glass, the ingredients go on top, and you stir once if at all. Anything carbonated goes in LAST and never gets stirred; every turn of the spoon costs you bubbles. Fill the glass to the rim with ice: less ice melts faster, not slower.
Glass and ice
A tall, narrow highball. The narrowness does real work — less surface area means the carbonation lasts longer and the ice melts more slowly.
Ingredient notes and substitutes
- Lager beer
- A bottom-fermented, clean and refreshing beer. Swap in an ale and its fruity esters take over and the drink turns heavy; a pilsner is the closest stand-in.
The Story
Mixing lager with Colombiana, the country's red kola-flavoured soda, is a long-standing Colombian habit at family gatherings and grilled-meat lunches, where it is usually made by the pitcher.
Frequently asked questions
- How is a Refajo mixed?
- It is built in the glass and served in a highball glass.
- How strong is a Refajo?
- Roughly 2% ABV as served — lighter than a beer — a long-conversation drink that takes a second round.
- Can a Refajo be made without alcohol?
- Simply leaving the spirit out does not work — the body and the bitterness go with it. The 86 alcohol-free recipes in the catalogue are built to hit that balance from the start.
- Is a Refajo hard to make?
- Easy. No bar kit required — a measure, ice and a jar will do.
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Alcoholic drink recipes are intended for those aged 18 and over. Please drink responsibly.