Ouzo

Ouzo has a pleasant aroma, whitens, cools and cheers

Ouzo with water blurs and reveals another character. The essential oils of anise and fennel, to which ouzo owes its aroma, are soluble in high-grade pure ouzo. However, with water or ice the degree decreases, the essential oils become insoluble and give, the well-known white haze that makes ouzo look like milk. Dilution, in addition to color, also changes the aroma that is released and floods the senses.

Ouzo, thanks to the essential oils of anise, anise and fennel seeds that it contains, gives the palate a taste of spring breeze and sunny sea, while creating a pleasant feeling of coolness able to soothe even the hottest Greek summer.

Enjoying ouzo

Ouzo is, perhaps, the most social drink ever born. It has a tradition and a philosophy. Those who share this special taste, come closer, speak more easily. Ouzo is the drink of companionship and confession. It is the drink of Greece, which no one can copy.

His recipe, both simple and exquisite, was associated with the sun, the sea, the joy of life. Its taste and enjoyment are inextricably linked to the history and memories of a people. Its taste conquered the whole of Greece, but also foreign visitors.

Ouzo is an alcoholic that goes well with seafood appetizers and fried foods with a strong taste.

Enjoyed plain or with water. Its consumption temperature, as for all alcoholics with a strong aroma, should not be high. For this reason, ice is added. The glass in which ouzo is enjoyed is usually tall and tubular, allowing the desired addition of water. It is a base for refreshing cocktails, in combination with fruit juices, vegetables and liqueurs.

An exclusively Greek drink .

The word ouzo is a word that is not translated. It is a distinctive name, according to tradition, of a distillate whose history is lost in the depths of the centuries. We must look for its principles in Egypt, from where the distillation passed to Greece. The initial destination was the consumption in Greece, which at that time included Asia Minor. The commercial laurels came next.

Our ouzo is an alcoholic beverage with anise that is traditionally produced exclusively in Greece. Especially after the establishment of the exclusive ouzo production in our country, our traditional drink offers possibilities of great success in the international market.

The small and big secrets of ouzo spirits

Ouzo is a distillate, which owes its organoleptic character, to the substances used for its aromatization.

The Mediterranean area is rich in plants and aromas. During their exploration, the palate and the pleasure came out victorious. Somehow, the anise “Pimpinella anisum”, the fennel “Foeniculum vulgare miller”, the asteroid anise, the mastic, the cinnamon, the clove, the coriander, the angelica root, the mastic, the linden, the cardamom, mint, etc., entered the abyss to refine the distillate.

The distinguishing feature of ouzo from other alcoholic beverages with anise aroma, is the way of flavoring. In most anis, it is usually preceded by the receipt of the aromatic components of the seeds with water. These are then added to the alcohol solution. In ouzo, traditionally, the aromatic substances are received naturally, by co-distilling the seeds in a solution of water and alcohol. That is why it belongs to the category of distilled anis.

The charm of ouzo making.

Alcohol, seeds and aromatic raw materials remain for hours in traditional handmade copper pots (cauldrons). The mixture is then distilled without abrupt changes in both heating and cooling. From the first distillation, the “heart” is separated and selected, the most delicious part of the distillate, which passes to the second and maybe the third phase of the process (redistillation), slowly, with continuous checks and tests.

The heart, the central fraction that is the perfect distillate of the last process, is stored to calm down, to “pair” the ingredients of the recipe and to become a homogeneous mixture.

Before the distillate reaches the bottles, it is diluted with soft water so that the final product acquires the desired alcoholic strength. The high alcohol content is a prerequisite for the incorporation of the rich aroma of ouzo.

According to the legislation it must be greater than 37.5% vol.

Until the final transparent distillate reaches the bottle, it follows a complex and detailed process, which is often handed down as a testament from generation to generation and keeps the family secrets. Its success depends primarily on the size, type and material of the abyss. Alcohol as well as the various species from the amazing variety of aromatic plants that will be added, ultimately determine its distillate, aroma and taste.

Every distiller has his own secret. That is, the type and proportion of aromatic seeds it uses. It also differs in terms of the distillation fractions it will use, the extraction before distillation, the distillation rate, the size of the cauldron. All this differentiates the organoleptic characters that the final distillate will have. There is also differentiation in the total amount of seeds that will be added.

See all our ouzo products here !