Guide to Turkish raki vodka: a story, how to drink, what to eat

Strictly speaking, Turkish raki has little in common with vodka. According to the canon, it is made from grape or – in rare cases – from other fruit brandy. The distillate is infused with aromatic raw materials – in this case, anise seeds or root, sometimes other herbs and spices – and then re-distilled. That is, according to the technology, raki is more like a liquor, but not sweetened, related, for example, to gin.

The main difference between raki and vodka, in addition to aroma and taste, is the method of consumption. Raki is rarely drunk in its pure form, it is customary to dilute it. And when you add cold water to a strong drink saturated with essential oils, the so-called “anise liqueur effect” appears. The liquid begins to opalescent – turns white, forming an insoluble emulsion, which looks quite impressive. Derived from mixing raki and water in equal amounts, the cocktail is called “lion’s milk”, “aslan süt” is the most common way to drink Turkish anise liqueur.

The history of the appearance of Raki

The progenitor of modern Turkish vodka is oriental arak, which is a fruit distillate. Even the name crayfish is consonant and, according to researchers, came from arak. In the 17th century, alcohol began to insist on anise, which led to the appearance of a fragrant strong drink. It was sold in more than 100 shops in Istanbul, and more than 300 people were employed in the production process.

Later, the so-called anise was served in small taverns called meykhane. Their owners were Greeks and Albanians, who did not obey Muslim laws prohibiting alcohol. In the 19th century, religious prescriptions for the use of strong drinks in everyday life began to weaken a little. This prompted the Muslim population to hike in the meykhane for another portion of fragrant alcohol. The popularity of raki has broken all records; in terms of consumption, it is even ahead of wine.

During the Turkish Republic, anise alcohol was considered a national drink. It was more often made by small home distilleries. In the early 30s of the XX century, commercial production of raki was established, and in 1944 a state monopoly was established on it. The drink began to be produced in Izmir at the Turkish enterprise Tekel, which was privatized in 2004. Today in Turkey there are various brands that produce national vodka. Among the most famous are: Efe, Burgaz and Elda.

Raki is prepared almost like Greek ouzo, drunk like ouzo, smells like ouzo and tastes like ouzo. The most surprising thing is that this is not an ouzo. The main difference is in the raw materials. Rectified alcohol is now widely used for ouzo, while raki should be made using distillate (although it is not a fact that all manufacturers know about this). In addition, most factories use anise rhizomes as raw materials, which give the drink a softer, fresher flavor. And for ouzo, dried anise seeds are used, sometimes also fennel, dill seeds, and so on. The basis of another similar drink – Italian sambuca – is black elderberry flowers, “Sambukus Nigra”, anise is only an auxiliary ingredient. But these are details that an inexperienced taster is unlikely to distinguish in a drink.

Unlike all other anise-flavored drinks, Turkish raki comes in aged versions, such as Black raki, which spends up to six months in an oak barrel. There are also more delicate elite varieties made not from grape distillate, but from fig (incir rakisi) or date.

Well, there must be at least one! In fact, this drink was fixed as a national father of the Turks – Mustafa Kemal, right after the revolution. It is known that the first president of Turkey really liked raki, besides, this drink symbolized the secular nature of the young Turkish Republic, liberation from religious taboos. Now, unfortunately, Turkey is moving in a regressive direction, and Muslim prohibitions are being imposed anew. The Erdogan government did not completely ban alcohol, but during its reign it raised the price of the excise almost four times, and recently one of the high-ranking ministers even called the national drink … ayran. In short, Ataturk is not on them.

In general, the history of cancer began much earlier. The basis was arak, an alcoholic drink common in the Middle East, which was made from anything, even from fermented mare’s milk. Arak, crayfish – it even sounds similar. The Ottomans quickly adopted the technology from the Arabs, and in the XNUMXth century they learned how to make arak on anise, most likely borrowing both the recipe and the anise itself from neighboring Greece, which took root perfectly on the Anatolian Peninsula. At that time, raki was made not by the Turks, but by foreigners, mainly Greeks (which once again confirms the relationship of raki and ouzo), but they served it in special establishments – meykhan, which were more or less often visited by Muslims. The use of raki was considered a lesser sin than drinking wine – after all, the Prophet forbade drinking wine specifically, and he did not say anything about distillates.

Until the middle of the 1930th century, raki was an alcoholic drink of handicraft production. They made it on their own, according to recipes passed down from father to son. And only by the 1944s Atatürk got around to organizing industrial production. Two varieties were the first to be released – the expensive Kulüp and the budget Yeni. In 1970, the production was nationalized and moved to the Tekel plant. The third, most prestigious variety – Altınbaş, appeared only in 2001, and the fourth – Tekirdağ – in 2004. Since 60, Tekel has been a private company, the state monopoly has been abolished. Now crayfish of varying degrees of quality are produced by many manufacturers throughout the country, and the number of varieties is constantly growing. Despite high prices and a religious revival, Turkey drinks up to XNUMX million liters of raki a year. What can you do – tradition!

Try it, but how! Just not anywhere and anyhow, in a hotel near Doshirak you should not drink crayfish – you will not understand either the taste or the effect! Walk into a special liquor – meyhane – which you will recognize by short tables and very tiny stools, on which mostly ethnic Turks, mostly only men, sit. You will rarely meet tourists here, but on the other hand, you can listen to local musicians türk sanat müziği, and sometimes – what the devil does not joke with! – and watch the belly dance. Do not forget that Turkish raki is not vodka, it is an insidious drink! The line between “I don’t feel anything yet” and “I don’t feel anything anymore” is extremely thin, you get drunk quickly and immediately.

The Turkish poet Orhan Veli once dreamily exclaimed: “I wish I could become a fish and swim in a vessel with raki!” Isn’t it a bit like Dune’s “if there was a sea of ​​vodka”?

Production features

The traditional recipe for making raki involves the use of grape pomace to produce home brew. The further production process includes the following steps:

• distillation in a copper still (sometimes with the addition of alcohol).
• insisting the resulting alcohol on anise.
• rerun.

Some manufacturers do not insist the distillate on anise, but add anise seeds directly during the distillation of the mash. As a rule, the resulting brandy is sent for a month to infuse in oak barriques. Some brands present long-aged alcohol, which has a characteristic golden hue. You can also find various varieties of Turkish national alcohol with additional fragrances and flavors.

Varieties of Turkish vodka

At a time when the production of raki was controlled by the state, it was difficult to talk about the abundance of varieties of alcohol. The purpose of the Tekel plant was to provide the necessary volumes of production. When commercial enterprises began to manufacture national alcohol, many interesting types of drinks appeared.

• Yeni raki is a classic drink made by double distillation. This is the most popular type of raki, characterized by its clear color, strong aniseed aroma and hints of medicinal herbs.
• Kueip – alcohol with anise-berry shades of crystal clear color.
• Yas uzum rakisi is made from fresh grapes by double distillation. It has a pleasant fresh aroma with fruity notes.
• Dip rakisi is the most fragrant and valuable variety of strong drink, which is not sold, but given to dear customers. It is the alcohol left in the alambic after the anise tincture.
• Altinbas is the most expensive vodka made from the purest distillate. It is called “Golden Head” because of its beautiful golden color.
• Black raki is a triple distilled liquor aged in oak.

Several varieties of raki are produced in Turkey, but most of them can only be purchased at home. Anise alcohol is imported to other countries in small quantities, so finding it will not be so easy.

Of course, you can impress the Turks by tossing stack after stack of pure raki like a true Russian giaour. But the pleasure will be so-so – it is too rich, overly aromatic drink. Therefore, it is better to follow the traditions and drink “lion’s milk” with water and / or ice, from special glasses called “Aheste”. Many people prefer to drink the first glass quickly in order to get in high spirits, and drink the next glass slowly, with a hearty snack and friendly conversation, in order to stay in this blissful state longer.

While clinking glasses with a Turk, you need to lightly tap the glass from the raki on the table, then touch the edge of the drinking buddy’s glass, saying “şerefe!”, That is, “for your honor!”. Sometimes a second glass is served with diluted raki for akheste – with clean water “for drinking”. You can also drink authentic non-alcoholic sour-bitter drink shalgam (şalgam suyu), which is made from turnips, beets and carrots. The last stack of crayfish “on the road” is drunk with tea or coffee, you can even add a little directly to the cup – why not?

Alcohol is diluted with clean water in a ratio of 1:3 or 2:3, where 3 parts of water are taken. At the same time, vodka acquires a white tint, for which it was nicknamed “lioness’s milk.” This is due to the presence of a large amount of essential oils in alcohol, which gives such an amazing effect when interacting with water. You can also add ice instead of water. Only first you need to pour alcohol, and then throw ice cubes. If you pour vodka into ice, it will begin to crystallize and lose its unique qualities.

At home, crayfish are often washed down with water. First, they drink grape vodka, then take a sip of pure water (1:1). It is advisable to mix both liquids in the mouth and swallow them at the same time.

Tourists have come up with their own way to drink a flavored drink – just drink it in its pure form with snacks. Turkish vodka is an excellent aperitif, it whets the appetite and prepares the body for a meal. It is usually served with small cold appetizers, olives, cheeses, seafood and melons. Often on the table you can see national meat dishes: kebab, kefte, bastia.

Oh, that’s the most important thing! They say that the Turks have a whole concept “rakı balık yapalım” – “to drink crayfish with fish.” Fish dishes and seafood are an excellent addition to aniseed vodka (again, analogies with the Greeks and ouzo, accompanied by the famous fried sardines). A classic classic is a local cheese, reminiscent of cheese and melon. And, of course, meze – where without them! Tiny cold snacks with hummus and eggplant, beans, peppers, nuts, artichokes, yogurt, meatballs, dolma – the number of types of meze rolls over, each institution has its own, but in general, almost all are delicious and go well with raki.