In Greece alcoholic beverages are inextricably linked with history, mythology and culture.

In the previous issue (beginning in issue number 6 (12), http://thenewcrete.ru/?loc=Archive) was told about Tsikoudia and Rakomello.

Tsikoudia. It is grape vodka or rustic moonshine which is called the “Spirit of Crete”.

Rakomelo. It is honey vodka consisting of two main ingredients: raki and honey.

Ouzo is aniseed vodka. Of course, this is not a specifically Cretan drink, but a common one for Greeks and the Mediterranean region which has been produced, and drunk also in Tsarist Russia.

If many people know Greek Metaxa*, then Ouzo is almost not familiar to modern Russians. This drink is similar to raki, but differs from it in the way of production. Ouzo (the stress should be on the first vowel) belongs to the class of brandy according to the international classification. By Russian standards, it should be called moonshine, being a mixture of alcohol, water and herbs. The way of obtaining alcohol for ouzo is almost not regulated. The standard says that content of grape alcohol should be 20% or more. The rest of ethanol can be of any origin. In most cases, the strange of the drink is 40%. The standard allows 40-50 degrees. The mixture of herbs may also be different, but a presence of the anise is obligatory. The addition of this herb is exactly the main feature of the drink. The ideal option for ouzo is 42 degrees. On the bottle, there should be a mark confirming 100% of distillation.

 Ouzo should be drunk with ice and diluted. The best snack for ouzo is a melon. The drink is well combined with seafood and vegetables. Many Russians believe that dilution of alcoholic beverages is a sign of weakness of “Europeans”, but it is a wrong supposition. The anise contains essential oil which is very good soluble in alcohol and is absolute transparent in it. If the beverage is cooled and the ethanol concentration drops, the anise oils are produced a white precipitate. Drink becomes dull-white and looks like our “classic” moonshine. If you do not cool and dilute ouzo, then the color and taste of it will be difficult to distinguish from vodka. It’s better not to buy it if you do not intend to use it properly.

How to dilute ouzo? One third of the glass is filled with it and two thirds with water. Then ice is added there. Locals claim that a proper quantity of consumption is three short glasses for a woman and five for a man. Overdose threatens a strong hangover.

Retsina. It is a common to all Greeks drink, too. A white dry wine with a resin flower, it also has an alternative name – “resin”. Retsina ripens in a specific way. During fermentation, pine resin is added to the wine. In retsina you will not found the resin itself, since it is simply removed before bottling the wine, but a taste of resin and its smell remain. An open bottle of retsina must be quickly finished; otherwise its content will soon turn into vinegar.

It’s believed that the tradition to add this taste and smell came from antiquity, when the amphorae with wine were sealed with resin. Greeks usual say: “After the first swallow you will taste acerbity of wine. After the second, you will have the same taste. After the third, you will like this drink or never taste it again”. A tip: try to get a taste for it before buying. May be it will seem to you not tasty and not worth buying.

Retsina is sold in a variety of bottles – from a three-liter flask in a supermarket to a 250-gram bottle in a kiosk. Small bottles with wine are convenient to take to the beach or for a walk.

Homemade draft wine. Its quality is unpredictable: in the market you can find wine of two vendors at the same price, and if the one may be the drink of the gods, another wine can be like vinegar. Well, when you have possibility to taste.

On Crete you can taste wine practically in any bar, restaurant or tavern and also in wine shops. Local people like wine and drink it every day. Diluted with water, it is drunk like a cocktail even by children. In addition, the strength of some varieties of wine is almost not significant.

 

Beer on Crete is a peculiar one and generally not bad, but certainly, it should not be compared with beer from Germany or from the Czech Republic. The main varieties, sold in cans and bottles, are present everywhere, like “Mythos”, “Alpha”, and “Vergina”. In Chania they brew a very tasty draft beer called “Harma”, and it can be bought in the taverns of the city.

 

Of course, in addition to the alcoholic drinks described by us, you will meet many others of them on Crete. Especially, there is a big variety of wines and liquors. In each locality the grapes have their own unique taste. Hence there is a huge variety of wines. The main wineries of Crete can be found in “The New Crete” N 5 (11), 2017

Taste, enjoy and bring home the best drinks.

 

*Metaxa. Perhaps, this is the most famous strong alcoholic beverage of Greece, a brandy, blended with wine and herbal tincture. The exact formula is kept by Greeks in the strictest secrecy. The essence of the process is the production of wine from sun-dried grapes of three varieties, typical for the Mediterranean, its subsequent distillation and addition of sweet muscat wine, and distilled water with herbal tincture which composition is secret for uninitiated. After aging for at last 3 years, this mixture becomes Metaxa.

By the way, we can say that this national alcoholic beverage of Greece has appeared not a long time ago: the first factory for its production has been founded in the town of Kifissia in 1882. The inventor had been a certain Spyros Metaxas in honor of which this Greek alcoholic beverage got its unusual name: the old word μέταξα means “silk” in Greek.

Jule 2017