The Greeks are famous for their licorice flavored (OK, anise-flavored) drink: ouzo.
I first had ouzo a few years ago -- we used it to make a really interesting Greek-styled fondue. But to be honest it wasn't that great. It tasted like licorice, but it burned uncomfortably going down and had a nasty after taste.
Apparently that's pretty much par for the course for a lot of the ouzo you get in the U.S. And it seems like you don;t have much of a choice when it comes to buying ouzo from your friendly neighborhood liquor store (in all the liquor stores I've been in they've only ever had at most one brand of ouzo in stock).
One ouzo fanatic wrote online that most of the ouzo you can get in America is basically "licorice-flavored rubbing alcohol." That was certainly true of the first ouzo I tried.
For Greek week, Bobbi and I decided to give ouzo another try. This time around the brand we had available was Ouzo 12. It wasn't half bad. It didn't have the horrible after taste and the initial "burn" was pleasant.
I'm no ouzo expert. But from what I've read online it seems like the "real" way to drink ouzo is to slowly sip it neat and straight (or cut with water) over a meal. I like my liquor cold, so I like to put my ouzo in the freezer before drinking (although it does form crystals and becomes murky if it stays in the freezer for too long) or just use ice in the glass.
And, of course, you have to yell out "Opa!" (which I'm pretty sure is Greek for "Look at me! I'm getting drunk off of licorice-flavored rubbing alcohol!")
Oh, and before you drink any ouzo you should definitely watch the party scene in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" to see a cautionary tale about the effects of drinking too much ouzo too fast...
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