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Arak, which is occasionally spelt araq in Arabic, is a popular distilled alcoholic beverage in the Middle East. The drink is famed for its potency and the translucent milky-white hue it takes on when water is added, and it is frequently offered in social situations and parties. Water and ice are nearly always added to arak, which has a particularly high alcohol level, to dilute it. Because of the beverage's potency, it earned the Middle Eastern name ‘the milk of lions’.
Arak is steeped in history and made from the alembic distillation method, which was created by Arabs in the 12th century. Arak is the preferred distilled beverage of people in the Middle East and among those who value their heritage many centuries after it was first produced.
One of the earliest flavoured spirits ever created, arak is produced by extracting anise seeds from grape brandy. Arak is older than all other anise-flavored alcoholic beverages from the Mediterranean and the Levant, including Turkish raki and French pastis. Its composition is also the most straightforward; there are no additional flavours added other than anise seed. Arak is well-liked throughout the world but hasn't gained much traction in the United States, maybe in part because of the contentious flavour that many people associate with licorice. Licorice root and anise seed are botanically different, despite the fact that they may taste similar. The flavour of licorice is derived from glycyrrhizin, a substance that is up to 100 times sweeter than sugar. On the other hand, anise seeds, which are more closely linked to fennel, get their flavour from the substance anethole.
The substance anethole is responsible for giving arak its foggy appearance when taken the traditional way, when combined with ice and water. In the high-proof distillate, anethole dissolves as an oil. But as soon as it comes into contact with water, the substance forms a murky emulsion.
Flavour
The flavour of arak is strongly licorice or anise. The flavour can be anything from fruity and anise-flavored to herbal and grassy, depending on the brand and production specifications. The strongest anise-flavored alcohol is arak, which has no additional sugar.
Types
Arak comes in several varieties dependent on the stills that are used to make it. Stills made of copper and stainless steel come in a variety of shapes. Arak produced by Moorish-style copper stills is the most expensive and in high demand. Arak is made in a variety of flavours and forms when other fruit varieties are added to the process. It can be challenging to distinguish the flavours of the fruits because the anise flavour is typically still so powerful.
The majority of the time, arak is offered in social settings or events like dinner parties, restaurants, and nightclubs. To help the guests cope with the alcohol's strength, the drink is traditionally given alongside mezze, or little bites of food. In the event of a dinner party or restaurant, the main dish is frequently hardly touched because arak pairs so well with these small appetiser dishes.
It's not just what's served with the drink; it's also how it's presented. Although water and ice are typically combined, the alcohol should always come first and should never be mixed with the ice. The odd pouring distinction is due to the fact that adding ice later results in an unpleasant film forming on top of the drink. It results from the anise oils hardening due to the ice's temperature and forming a coating.
Water gives the beverage its distinctive milky hue and counteracts the film-forming effects of ice on its own. Arak is frequently consumed in many glasses because of the effects of mixing it with water and ice. Middle Eastern restaurants typically provide their patron's multiple glasses of arak since the milky hue and absence of ice reaction are thought to be so crucial. Citrus fruits like lemon or orange typically combine well with Arak's inherent anise flavour when making cocktails or other mixed beverages with it.
