She also credits her longevity to staying active and a busy social life.
A 108-year-old woman has shared some of the secrets of her long life, including a one-shot drink she has every day before eating. Despite being a part of the less than 0.01 per cent of the world’s population who have made it to 100, Esperanza Cortiñas still dances, travels by bus and has an active social life.
Esperanza lives with her 76-year-old daughter Mari Carmen in their flat in Ourense in northern Spain. In an interview with local radio station COPE, she explained that the key to reaching 108 years of life is “working, being active, eating well, being cheerful and fun”.
Regarding her work life, she stated that “I worked hard all my life since I was little when I was taking care of cows, which helped me a lot”. Esperanza also values eating well, especially “products like vegetables or fruits” although she highlighted that “I can eat everything”.
But what never fails in her daily diet is a “shot of coffee liqueur” and pointed out that “before coming to the radio, I already took my shot of coffee liqueur”, a very traditional drink in this area of Galicia.
As reported on Cope.es, she gets up at 11 in the morning and before eating, she already takes her shot of coffee liqueur, known as licor café . Her daughter prepares the food and usually around 1pm they enjoy local produce for lunch.
After a rest, although she never takes a nap, around 4pm she leaves the house and catches a bus that takes them to the city centre to go to the pensioner’s home where she plays cards with her friends. Esperanza likes it “very much” and points out that “I have many friends and we have a great time”.
From Monday to Saturday afternoon she plays cards, but on Sundays she dances. Esperanza pointed out that “I danced a lot in my life and I always liked it”. Now she doesn’t dance as much because last year she broke her hip and, although she recovered very well, she takes it easy and only dedicates one day to dancing.
After playing cards or dancing on Sunday afternoons, around 8pm she gets back on the bus to return home, where she usually has a glass of milk for dinner and listens to the radio and also at night puts on the television to go to bed at around 11pm. Esperanza claims that she sleeps well.
The importance of socialising
The centenarian highlighted that she maintains “constant communication with family and friends” and this sociability “helped her a lot” in longevity. Her daughter, Mari, enjoys her company every day and assured that “many people approach her on the street as if she were a celebrity”.
Esperanza is also not afraid of long trips and a few weeks ago she went by train to Alicante, a distance of five hours, to see her daughter who lives there. The centenarian likes to look nice and has dresses of all colours, “up to three wardrobes full of clothes”, and always combs her hair and puts some lipstick on.
Esperanza believes that “being cheerful and wanting to live” allows her to enjoy day by day, month by month, and year by year.
How to prepare a licor café
Also known as “licorca”, licor café is very popular in the Galicia region of Spain. While it can be bought in cafes in the area, it is often homemade.
Therefore, there are many different recipes for making it. The Galician coffee liqueur typically consists of orujo (aguardiente), coffee beans, and sugar. Then, different ingredients are added to each recipe, often lemon or orange peel, cinnamon, and dark chocolate.
Galicia Tips recommends the following ingredients:
- 1 litre of strong alcohol (oruja, aguardiente, but you can also use vodka)
- 1/4 kilo ground coffee
- 1/2 kilo sugar
- 1 lemon
- 1 orange
The preparation is as follows:
- Pour the alcoholic drink into a large, sealable pot
- Place a saucepan on the stove with the sugar and add 100ml of water. Bring to a boil to create a syrup. Let it cool and add it to the alcohol
- Finely peel the lemon and orange and add the peels to the mixture
- Finally, add the ground coffee and stir everything together
- Let it stand sealed for at least eight days
- Strain the drink and pour it into a bottle
Store the drink in the freezer or refrigerator and serve ice-cold.