Beer and wine words in Spain: caña, tubo, jarra, tercio and more
Published 22 October 2026
Ask for "a beer" in Spain and the bartender may well ask which size you want. Spanish bars have their own words for draught sizes, bottles and mixed drinks, and the menu assumes you know them. This is the short glossary: what each word means, so the menu stops being a puzzle.
Looking for the phrases to order and pay? Those are in our guide to ordering in a Spanish bar. This page is about the words on the menu.
Draught beer, from small to large
Una caña
A small draught beer
Usually around 200 ml. The default in most of Spain: cold, quick and cheap enough to have another.
Un tubo
A draught beer in a tall, narrow glass
A bit more than a caña, often around 300 ml. A good middle ground.
Un doble
A double
In many bars, a bigger glass than a caña. The exact size changes from bar to bar.
Una jarra
A large draught beer in a mug
Around half a litre, served in a glass mug.
Un zurito
A very small beer
A Basque word: a few sips of beer, made for hopping from bar to bar with pintxos.
Bottles
Un tercio
A 33 cl bottle
A third of a litre. In Catalonia you will also hear una mediana.
Un quinto
A 20 cl bottle
A fifth of a litre, also called un botellín. Small, so it stays cold.
Beer styles and mixes
Una tostada
An amber, maltier beer
Not toast! On a beer menu, tostada means a darker lager made with toasted malt. At breakfast, the same word means a slice of toast.
Una clara
Beer mixed with lemon soda
Half beer, half gaseosa or lemon soda. Ask for una clara con limón if you want it lemony.
Una sin
An alcohol-free beer
Short for cerveza sin alcohol. Una 0,0 (cero cero) has no alcohol at all.
Wine words
Un tinto
A red wine
Tinto is red, blanco is white, rosado is rosé. Ask for just un vino and you will usually get the house red.
El vino de la casa
The house wine
Cheap and often good. It is usually included in a menú del día.
Un tinto de verano
Red wine with lemon soda, over ice
What many Spaniards drink in summer instead of sangría.
Un chato
A small glass of wine
A traditional word, still heard in old-school bars in Madrid and the north.
Un vermut
A vermouth
Sweet red vermouth over ice with an olive or a slice of orange. La hora del vermut is the drink before lunch, especially on Sundays.
Crianza, reserva, gran reserva
On a wine list these words tell you how long the wine was aged before it went on sale: crianza the shortest, reserva longer, gran reserva the longest. Joven means young, with little or no ageing.
Questions people ask
What size is a caña in Spain?
There is no fixed size, but a caña is usually around 200 ml. Ask for a tubo, a doble or a jarra if you want more.
What does "tostada" mean on a beer menu?
A tostada is an amber or darker lager brewed with toasted malt. It has nothing to do with toast, which is also called tostada at breakfast.
What do Spaniards drink instead of sangría?
Mostly tinto de verano: red wine with lemon soda and ice. Sangría exists, but it is mainly made for visitors and for big jugs at parties.
Now that you know the words, see how to order in a Spanish bar for the phrases, and how to order coffee in Spain for the morning after.
Free printable cheat sheet
The key bar and café phrases from our guides on one page: download the free cheat sheet. Print it or save it on your phone.