First and the most important thing is that you can drink water from the pipe in the entire region of Dalmatia! That includes homes, hotels, apartments, restaurants, coffee bars, even on the street ( you can get the water from the water fountain or pipes) or Marjan Hill, simply we have water safe for consumption.
But, if you ask Dalmatians, water is for washing and wine is for drinking! Well, not only wine, of course. To be fully simplified – the most popular drinks in Dalmatia are water and – alcohol drinks!
What people in Dalmatia drink?
Wines are number one! Beer ranks second on drinking list and we can say that whiskey, vodka, gin and rakija are the rest of the most popular drinks in Dalmatia people drink.
Ladies and Gentlmen – meet rakija – dalmatian wild card!
Brandy, grappa, spirit, schnapps…you will probably hear many different names in Dalmatia for this drink, but once you taste it, the name will become irrelevant! It is not accidentally we chose this beverage as a first on the list. Rakia is one of the most popular drinks in Dalmatia.
Locals will say ‘rakia connecting people’ and they won’t lie. Usually a percentage of alcohol that can range from approximately 40% to 65%. On the coast or countryside. At home or in the bar. Short, strong drink – tastes similar to Italian grappa or Japanese sake.
Sometimes the taste of the fruit from which it was made prevails (for example, pear rakia, quince rakia, or very often carob or cherry rakia). Advice is to order it before a meal as an appetizer, or after as a liquid dessert (sweet rakia). Important – be careful! Two or three will be enough. If you don’t want to go home crawling. But, if you don’t have any obstacles, be our guest! Get a bottle of this domestic goldie, and sit around with some good friends and prepare to make a story you tell your grandkids :)!
Prices of the most popular drinks in Dalmatia
Pint of beer (in Croatia means 0.5 litres – not 0.4 as in the UK) you’ll pay from 3 to 5 euros, in night clubs up to 6€. Glass of wine, according to the quality, from 6 to 8euros. Bottle of wine from 40 to 150 euros, at the restaurants.
Rakija is the cheapest – 2 to 4 €. Thereby more ‘dangerous’. If you drink beer or rakija, and even wine, we recommend making an effort to find domestic, dalmatian drinks. There are some great craft beer breweries in Split, and liqueurs made on Dalmatian rural homestead. Some restaurants and bars promote sales of domestic products, so don’t waste this opportunity! Centre of the town is not too wide, and you can walk around all those bars in just one night.
Popular dalmatian wines
Thanks to the sunny climate and rich soil, Dalmatian wines are among the best ones in Europe. Still, Croatian wines are not recognized enough and promoted as they deserve. But this shouldn’t stop you to refresh your tastes with a glass of the most popular dalmatian wines – like Dingač, Babić, Pošip, Vugava or Zinfandel.
The potential of Croatian wines in tourism is on the rise and every increase a number of popular walks of vineyards combined with Wine tastings and tasting of autochthonous cuisine.
Dalmatia is a place with so much to offer, especially if you are delicacy and wine addict. It would be stupid, not to at least give it a (gourmet) shot.