What is the most unusual spirit you have in your home bar?
What is the most unusual spirit you have in your home bar?
I find unusual spirits interesting, and I want to hear about the ones you have.
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I had a bottle of Arak from Palestine, that a previous boss had imported, and then gifted to me. It's anise flavored, clear when warm, looks like a snow globe if you refrigerate it, and turns white when poured over ice. So neat, but it tasted like anise :-P
There's a liquor from south/southeast Asia also called arak but it's totally different (not anise flavored, made from coconut or palm sap). Wonder if the etymologies are the same.
That sounds good, too! Interesting read, thanks!
I love that stuff! Helps that I like anise. It's a lot like Ouzo, of course... I first ran into arak at a college bar in Lansing, MI. It's cool how it turns milky when you add water. A similar spirit is aguardiente, the national liquor of Columbia. Arak is hard to find but I located it in a couple stores in Denver.
Man, I don't know if it was as potent as it felt, or if it was just the anise flavor making it feel more so, but it seems like a good fit for college town bars š
I was so happy to hear that it's not unusual to serve it on the rocks and/or watered down. He referred to it as some kind of "milk"... "Lion's milk" maybe? (I maybe should have paid closer attention, but he was kind of a creeper)
I for sure wouldn't trust some weird dude serving me "lion's milk", ha ha. And yeah, in Lansing they served it in a small tumbler on the rocks. It is very strong, I think the bottle I got (which was very ME style and looked awesome) was 90 proof.
I love Arak. Every country in that region has its local anise booze, and Israeli Arak is my favorite. I basically make my own by infusing vodka with anise.
That's basically what I tasted when I drank it - anise and intense alcohol is what I remember. It smelled/felt really strong, but I couldn't read the label at all so I have no idea what the proof actually was. At least making your own with a base like vodka you get to know that :-P
Sounds similar to absinthe
Absinthe would be closest but this is essentially the anise and then a sweet grape flavor to it. A bit less complexity in ingredients yet it still has quite a lot of depth depending on the bottle.