Try Ouzo in a Cocktail

Ouzo, the anise-flavoured aperitif, is typically mixed with water or ice and sipped over a leisurely dinner in an ouzerie, a kind of restaurant found throughout Greece and Cyprus that serves a sequence of small dishes known as meze. But ouzo can also be used in the preparation of cocktails. The Almyra Ouzo Special is one such example. The bartender begins by selecting a tall hurricane glass and filling it with ice. Then 5 cl of ouzo is added to the glass. As the ouzo comes into contact with the ice, the clear liquid emulsifies into a milky whiteness. Then comes hand-squeezed lemon juice and a healthy pour of lemon- and lime-flavoured soft drink. After a gentle stir, we add some rose cordial. This distinctively Cypriot beverage, based on the distillation of the damask rose, gives the milky ouzo a lovely pink glow. Then our cocktail is garnished with two slices of cucumber, a maraschino cherry, and a sprig of fresh mint. Sip it with a straw and you’ll find it fizzy and tangy—with the tartness of the citrus tangling with the sweetness of the rose and the bitterness of the anise. Bar manager Stavros Roumeliotis is concocting several new cocktails with ouzo as a base, and he plans to launch them at Almyra’s Ouzerie (where else?) in 2020. Watch this space for details. Meanwhile, stop by Almyra and check out the Almyra Ouzo Special at any one of our bars.