Almost every bad ouzo experience has the same cause: somebody drank it as a shot.
Nobody in Greece does this. Ouzo is a slow drink, taken with food, over an hour or more, diluted.
How it is actually done
Small tall glass. Ouzo poured in. Cold water added, roughly one to one, though this is taste rather than law.
It turns cloudy. This is the louche, and it happens because the anise oils dissolve in alcohol but not in water, so they come out of solution the moment you dilute. The same thing happens with pastis and raki.
Ice optional and slightly contested. Purists add water first, then ice, because ice straight into neat ouzo can make the anethole crystallise unevenly. In practice, on a warm evening, nobody minds.
It needs food
Ouzo without food is a mistake. The word for what goes alongside is mezes, and the pairing is not decorative, it is structural. The salt and fat slow you down and the anise cuts through them.
Octopus is the classic. So are olives, sardines, feta, tomato, fried small fish, anything salty.
Pace
An ouzo is meant to last. If your glass is empty in ten minutes you are doing it wrong and you will find out later.
Ouzo, tsipouro and raki
Ouzo is a neutral spirit flavoured with anise.
Tsipouro is distilled from grape pomace, like grappa. Sometimes anise-flavoured, often not.
Raki, or tsikoudia, is the Cretan version of tsipouro, and it is almost never anise-flavoured. If someone in Crete pours you raki and you are expecting the taste of ouzo, you will be surprised.
Nonos Bar & Restaurant
112 Judd St, London WC1H 9NT
0207 278 9700 · contact@nonos.co.uk
Sunday to Wednesday 08:30 to 22:00 · Thursday to Saturday 08:30 to 23:00