Greece's national aperitif, a clear anise-led spirit of at least 40.5 percent alcohol that turns milky white the instant water or ice is added. The cloud, called the ouzo effect, comes from anethole in the anise dropping out of solution. It is rarely drunk neat or as a shot; instead it is poured into a small glass, cut with cold water, and nursed slowly through a long table of meze. The town of Plomari on Lesvos is its most famous home.
Ouzo grew out of tsipouro, the grape-pomace spirit of the Greek mainland and islands, which was flavoured with anise to give a distinct drink. Commercial production dates to the nineteenth century after Greek independence; the first dedicated ouzo distillery is recorded at Tyrnavos in 1856, founded by Nikolaos Katsaros. The drink became bound up with national identity, and on 25 October 2006 the European Union granted ouzo protected status as a product made only in Greece and Cyprus. Lesvos, and Plomari in particular, accounts for a large share of national output.
Neat, it is crystal clear and sharply aromatic, all liquorice and warm spice over a high-proof heat. Add cold water and it blooms into an opaque, pearly white, sometimes with a faint blue cast, and the alcohol softens into something rounded and cooling. On the palate the anise is sweet and lingering, with a clean, slightly drying finish that resets the mouth between bites of salty, oily meze.
Ouzo is built by distilling a high-strength neutral grape or grain spirit a second time in a copper still together with anise and a supporting cast of botanicals: star anise, fennel, mastic, coriander, cardamom, cloves and others vary by house. Anethole, the essential oil of anise, dissolves freely in alcohol above roughly 38 percent but is nearly insoluble in water. When water or melting ice drops the strength below that line, the anethole comes out of solution as countless microscopic droplets that scatter light, producing the signature milky louche.
Variations
Strength and sweetness vary by producer, from drier, higher-proof styles to softer ones. The closest kin is tsipouro and its Cretan cousin tsikoudia, distilled from the same pomace but usually left unflavoured; ouzo is the anise-led branch of that family. The PDO splits ouzo into regional names including Ouzo of Mytilene, of Plomari, of Kalamata, of Thrace and of Macedonia. It anchors the ouzeri, a tavern built around sharing small plates over ouzo.
On the Palate
Where Ouzo sits in the Greek flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 1How it's made
6 steps · 2 min
- 10 min
Distill a high-strength neutral grape or grain spirit, then redistill it in a copper still with anise and chosen botanicals such as fennel, mastic and coriander to make the aromatic ouzo heart.
- 20 min
Adjust the distillate with water to bottling strength of at least 40.5 percent alcohol and rest it before serving (this is the producer's work; the steps below are for serving).
- 31 min
Chill a small glass and pour a measure of ouzo, about 50 millilitres.
- 41 min
Add cold water, roughly one to one and a half parts to the ouzo, and watch it turn opaque and milky.
Watch outAdd cold water slowly and watch it turn milky — that louche is the anise oil dropping out of solution; below about forty percent it clouds on its own.
- 50 min
Add a cube or two of ice if desired, after the water, so the louche develops cleanly.
- 60 min
Serve with a spread of meze and sip slowly rather than shooting it.
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