A BEER based on a liqueur manufactured in Alcoi (Alicante) has proven to be a sell-out in the USA and has returned across the pond to be sold in delicatessens across Spain.
Spigha Coffee Porter was created by Daniel Fernández of Beancurdturtle Brewing in California, inspired by an ancient coffee liqueur distilled in the inland town of Alcoi, after he went on a tour of Spain seeking out historic drinks to use as a basis for his ideas in his own real ale factory.
Now the height of fashion in the USA with its own sections in top-of-the-range supermarkets, it has also seen a revival in its home country.
Alcoi now shares the official origin stamp of 'Cerveses Spigha' ('Spigha beers') and manufactures the popular Spigha Coffee Porter.
The factory, Cervesera Alcoiana, won a gold medal this year in the Monde Sélection awards, run by the International Quality Institute in Brussels.
Spigha Coffee Porter came about after Fernández, accompanied by the Alcoi-based creators Pau Aznar and Toni Aló, went on a field trip tasting traditional spirits to use as a base for a new type of beer, before deciding upon the coffee liqueur drunk by the bottle during the famous Moors and Christians festivals - held in March in Alcoi but normally in the summer along the coast of the Alicante and Valencia provinces.
Outside of the Moors and Christians, a re-enactment of the ancient battle where the Islamic settlers were thrown out of Spain during the Inquisition, the coffee liqueur produced in Alcoi was barely known.
An infusion and distillation of coffee beans with an alcohol level of 6.5º, the spirit was taken home by Fernández and turned into a hybrid real ale mix.
Pau Aznar from Cervesera Alcoiana says the beer made with the local coffee liqueur, which is now manufactured in Alcoi more so than in the USA, is literally flying off the shelves and they are working round the clock to satisfy demand.
