Vaina

A traditional Chilean cocktail of cognac, ruby port, white crème de cacao, and egg yolk, dusted with cinnamon — served as an aperitif or after dinner across Chile for generations.

The Vaina is one of Chile's oldest cocktails, closely associated with Confitería Torres, one of Santiago's oldest confectionery-bars, which traces its founding to 1879. The word "vaina" is Chilean slang meaning roughly "thing" or "stuff" -- as in a waiter being asked to "bring me another one of those things." A popular story attributes the name to Venezuelan humanist Andrés Bello, said to have been such a frequent and enthusiastic customer at Confitería Torres that he gave the drink its name. The story doesn't hold up chronologically: Bello died in 1865, fourteen years before Confitería Torres opened in 1879, a contradiction noted directly by at least one Chilean drinks historian. The anecdote remains the most commonly repeated origin story regardless, and where the name actually came from is genuinely unresolved. What is better documented is the recipe's evolution: the version served at Confitería Torres originally combined aged Chilean wine, pisco, a cream liqueur, cocoa and cinnamon, gradually settling into the cognac, port, crème de cacao, egg yolk and sugar formula considered standard today. Imbibe Magazine featured the cocktail as a Chilean holiday drink in a recipe from bartender Juan Bautista Zambrano of Red2One in Santiago, confirming cognac, port, chocolate liqueur, powdered sugar and egg yolk as the traditional combination, alongside Zambrano's own pisco-based variation sweetened with cinnamon syrup. The Vaina is traditionally served before or after meals throughout Chile, especially during the holiday season, shaken or blended until frothy and finished with a dusting of ground cinnamon.