Food Glossary: Canelazo

Canelazo is a hot alcoholic drink found in Andean highlands: Columbia, Ecuador and Peru, which is really comforting and warming.  I sampled it in Columbia and Ecuador and it reminded me a bit of drinking mulled wine back home, although the flavours are quite different!

It is made from aguardiente (sugar cane alcohol and the region’s signature alcohol), sugar and agua de canela (water boiled with cinnamon).  It often includes fruit juice like mora (blackberry), lime or orange.  Other variations include honey and cloves.

The pictures below are from the Canelazo I sampled on the streets in Bogota, Columbia.