In 1893, Julián Díaz García, a native of a town in Cuenca, arrived in Madrid with the intention of working, like so many others who came to the capital, as an errand boy in a small beverage business. The beginnings are difficult, there is not even the basics: water, electricity and gas. The little shop opens at six in the morning, lighting up with oil lamps to offer herbal, lemon and “mild” brandy to simple people such as masons, bakers, ragpickers and lamplighters. In the fifties, frying and cooking were introduced, highlighting the Madrid stew. A beggar used to play the guitar there and the bartender came out to rebuke him, telling him to stop his constant “ma-la-ca-tín” and hence his name.