I like to frame my travel destinations in Europe around food and drink. Culinary travel, wine tasting and brewery tours are the heart of my trips with historic sights and museums forming the side trips. I usually seek out a manufacturer of local specialties, even if I am pretty sure I will not enjoy what I am eating or drinking. Ouzo, Greece’s anise-flavored alcohol, is a drink that I sought out in Athens before deciding if I wanted to go to an anise brewery. After trying ouzo, I decided that a special trip “to the source” was not necessary.

Ouzo is Greece’s national drink and should be made with 100% of its ingredients coming from its home country. Ouzo starts out as crushed grapes, local herbs and berries before getting a healthy addition of spices (star anise lending the strongest flavor with licorice, mint, cloves and many other herbs thrown in for complexity) and heat. After boiling in a copper still, ouzo rests for many months and is then diluted to around 40% alcohol (80 proof).

Ouzo is usually enjoyed as an aperitif (often mixed with water or ice) in the early evening but can also be the base for cocktails. Ouzo is a “protected” name meaning that, according to the EU, only Ouzo produced in Greece can bear the ouzo name. I had ouzo in Athens, as it should be consumed, on the rocks before dinner. I was told beforehand that ouzo was a popular substitute for absinthe in the early 20th century after absinthe’s popularity declined and that helped explain the similarity in taste.

While ouzo isn’t for everyone, there is something very appropriate about trying a bit at a street-side café during sunset that just feels very Greek.