"Elle, 31, likes to taste local spirits when she travels as a way of feeling more connected to a place. When the content producer visited the Dominican Republic from New York last year, she was intrigued by mamajuana, a rum-wine mix known as an aphrodisiac. She liked hearing locals talk about it with pride. "You remember drinks because they come with a story, a feeling, and a sense of place," she says."
"Drinking based on one's destination is hardly a new concept. While it's difficult to pinpoint exactly when drink tours grew in popularity, the concept of imbibing one's way through a destination has been gaining steady ground since the '90s, when chauffeured winery-hopping became an option in the U.S., though some breweries only saw numbers spike in the last decade. To this day, many travelers continue to incorporate local distilleries into their itineraries or, at least, try homegrown spirits."
"In comparison, my own travels were rather boring. I leave places without getting any sense of their local drinking habits, merely sticking to my fail-safe martini. And before my algorithm even spews nightlife content from the places I've visited, I'm already back home, regretting the gaps in my research. A seven-day trip to Madrid last year ended without tasting a drop of sangria, Kalimotxo, or Rioja."
Many travelers choose destination-specific drinks to connect with place identity, favoring iconic cocktails or local spirits. Examples include daily spritzes in Italy, mamajuana in the Dominican Republic, and a willingness to try native liquors like bathtub gin. Drink-focused tourism expanded since the 1990s with winery tours and has grown recently around breweries and distilleries. Many travelers now incorporate distilleries into itineraries or at least try homegrown spirits. Some visitors regret missing regional beverages after trips and then deliberately shift habits to sample local libations as an easy way to experience stories, feelings, and a stronger sense of place.
Read at Bustle
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