Andean Warmer · Cinnamon and Cane Liquor
Canelazo
Photo: Kevinmero / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
It's served steaming hot even though it's technically a cocktail — a cinnamon tea spiked with sugarcane liquor, drunk to fight the cold at Andean altitude rather than to cool off.
Canelazo is made by simmering cinnamon sticks (and often naranjilla fruit) in water and sugar, then stirring in aguardiente, Ecuador's clear sugarcane spirit, and serving it hot in a mug. Street vendors sell it from thermoses and pots at night markets and festivals in Ecuador's cold highland towns like Quito and Otavalo.
Why it's made this way: In the chilly Andean highlands, canelazo developed as the practical, communal answer to the climate — a spiced, warming drink meant to be shared outdoors after dark.
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