Help me drink good Arak

September 24, 2012 11:47 AM

Arakfilter! I've happened across a little bottle of pricey Arak (El Rami, from Lebanon), welcome tips on its consumption. I've seen the suggestions about adding water followed by ice, though I wonder if it's the same with all grades, kinda like how one might not consume cheap and high-end tequila the same way. Thanks... and come by for a glass if you're in Dubai.
posted by ambient2 to Food & Drink (4 answers total)

1. Find some amazingly good peaches. 2. Muddle the heck out of a peach in the bottom of a glass. 3. Add Arak and a few ice cubes. 4. Stir. 5. Repeat until you run out of peaches.

This was my unofficial drink of the summer, and I am having a difficult time with my sadness over the end of peach season.
posted by amelioration at 11:54 AM on September 24, 2012 [2 favorites]

In Turkey, where the similar beverage rakı is served, it was always to the taste with mineral water...though I think a few tougher guys from the dig did drink it straight. It's probably worth doing some tests of varying degrees of water or ice and your arak, the same way some scotch drinkers prefer a drop or two and others hate the thought. Usually restaurants would bring out a platter of fresh melon slices and roasted chickpeas alongside. The sweetness provides a nice foil, even if they're not in the same glass as above!
posted by jetlagaddict at 11:58 AM on September 24, 2012

I've had Rakı with between a drop and a pour of water, with only pleasing results :)
posted by wrok at 12:01 PM on September 24, 2012

I drink mine with cold water, but I also like to have mezze with it. Arak is one of those drinks that doesn't really work for me without food.
posted by atrazine at 7:31 PM on September 24, 2012