An ouzeri is an eating and drinking establishment that specializes in the serving of ouzo and the delectable mezethes (small dishes of foods) that go with it. You can turn your home into an authentic Greek ouzeri in a few easy steps, which is exactly what I did at my dinner party
Ouzo is generally served as an apéritif, but it’s also a reason for friends to get together and enjoy good company and conversation at any time. To the Greeks, serving ouzo in an art. It is drunk slowly and is always served with at least one meze (a small dish of food) because of its potency. Ouzo can be served straight in a shot glass or, as most of us prefer, over ice in an old-fashioned or highball glass with a pitcher of water to dilute to taste.
Ouzo is also an ingredient in several cocktails and if you have been to Greece, you will be very familiar with Frappe, the Greek version of iced coffee. Now, you could put an egg white in my recipe if you want that whole frothy head thing in your drink but I wanted to keep it simple and easy. (Under tips you will find the instructions for adding egg white to this drink)
Yamas!
You’ll need
- 40ml x Ouzo
- 20ml x mint syrup
- Club soda
- Mint sprigs to garnish
- Crushed ice
- Squeeze of lime
- • To make the mint syrup
- 1 x cup water
- 1 x cup sugar
- A handful of fresh and washed mint leaves
Method
- First make the mint syrup by placing the water, sugar, and fresh mint leaves in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat.
- Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally, until the sugar is fully dissolved.
- Simmer for about 1-2 minutes, then remove pan from heat. Let mint leaves steep for about 15-30 minutes.
- Pour mixture through strainer into your storage container. (Discard the mint leaves)
- Cool completely, cover, and refrigerate.
- To make the cocktail, add the ouzo, mint syrup and squeeze of lime to a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake vigorously until cold.
- Fill your glass with crushed ice and fill the glass with the cocktail mix.
- Top up with club soda and garnish with a sprig of mint.
To make this drink with egg white, simply add the egg with the rest of your ingredients to your cocktail shaker and first shake dry for 20 seconds (that means with no ice). Add you ice and shake for a further 20 seconds until cold. Strain the contents into your glass with ice and finish off as above.