Now I understand why Portugal produces such good football players. It’s in the water…well at least the water that goes into the beer. So delicious in fact is this local, that for sheer taste it starts to mess with my previous yardstick – Japanese beer…Kirin is my favourite.

The two main brands in Portugal are Sagres and Super Bock. The bottles and cans come in the usual sizes but they also make a cute little 20cl sized bottle called..well, a ‘Mini’. It feels good to hold and on a hot day it would be what we would call in Australia – a ‘throwdown’. The value & taste equation is remarkable. The standard bottles are always on special at the supermarket, you’ll be forking out only 12-14 euros for a case of 24.

It ‘s also always on tap at any restaurant, cafe, beach shack and street kiosk. Always served ice cold…really ice cold and for someone who normally doesn’t drink a lot of beer, it’s proving irresistible. The standard 20cl glass is called an “Imperial” and you’ll be handing over only 1 euro. So there lies the dilemma, what to spend your 1 euro on…expresso, water or beer?

In this summer heat…theres no choice at all really.

:: d ::