Any Metaxa Fans Out There?

I had a client give me a bottle of this Greek brandy - basic brandy flavoured with muscat that brings back memories of my youth (not all of the sober) when I used to visit a Cypriot friend and we'd drink a bottle of Metaxa between us, alternating toasts calling down damnation on all Turks (don't ask - it is a Greek Cypriot thing).

Hmm - this stuff ain't half bad - I think I'll have another wee snifter.....

I also use to drink Ouzo with him, but after a memorable (or maybe non-memorable) major OD on it, should be ready to try sniffing a bottle of it in another couple of decades or so. Maybe.

A fan? Well, count me a reformed Metaxa fan as I gave up hard liquor eight or nine years ago. In my impecunious and hangover-tolerant youth I was in general a fan of bad brandy and of the bad ones Metaxa was by far my favorite. I seem to recall Metaxa coming in more than one grade, but no doubt I was swilling the cheapest.

Incidentally, when I lived years ago in Turkey, the Turks you were cursing were drinking several brands of brandy they called "kanyak," which I can attest is sufficiently terrible to make Metaxa taste like the nectar of the gods.

Ah, Metaxa. Haven't had that in years now...but there was a time when I could drink some copious amounts. Usually when I was with some Greek buddies in Milwaukee.

As I recall from my retail days, Metaxa was a triple-threat: made from a blend of grape varieties, but all of them sun-dried, then blended with some Muscat. and then, to top it off, blended with a secret ingredient concoction of herbals and essences.

Three types (although I was told there were more older versions in Greece, never had them): 3 Star (aged three years in oak), 5 Star (5 years in oak) and the 7 Star (aged...wait for it, wait for it....7 years in oak). The 7 Star wasn't bad at all, at all.

Even had a local mixed drink with Metaxa---a sorta Metaxa Sour. All it did was slow down the drunk a little and make the inevitable hangover even worse, so it was usually just "Opah!" and slam with the Greek gang.

After one episode of Ouzo, I successfully managed to resist doing that to myself ever again.

Slivovitz, now, I was neither that smart nor that lucky.

I had a client give me a bottle of this Greek brandy - basic brandy flavoured with muscat that brings back memories of my youth (not all of the sober) when I used to visit a Cypriot friend and we'd drink a bottle of Metaxa between us, alternating toasts calling down damnation on all Turks (don't ask - it is a Greek Cypriot thing).

Hmm - this stuff ain't half bad - I think I'll have another wee snifter.....

I used to love Metaxa brandy, although I haven't seen it for, oh, I don't know how many years. Never knew it was blended with Muscat, but probably explains why I liked this brandy and wasn't really keen on the (French) stuff my Mum liked.

BTW - I've been to Cyrpus, so don't need to ask about your toasts.

I had a client give me a bottle of this Greek brandy - basic brandy flavoured with muscat that brings back memories of my youth (not all of the sober) when I used to visit a Cypriot friend and we'd drink a bottle of Metaxa between us, alternating toasts calling down damnation on all Turks (don't ask - it is a Greek Cypriot thing).

Hmm - this stuff ain't half bad - I think I'll have another wee snifter.....

I used to love Metaxa brandy, although I haven't seen it for, oh, I don't know how many years. Never knew it was blended with Muscat, but probably explains why I liked this brandy and wasn't really keen on the (French) stuff my Mum liked.

BTW - I've been to Cyrpus, so don't need to ask about your toasts.

I've never been to cyprus, Sue, but I've read Kazantzakis and that's enough to understand how the Greeks feel about the Turks Oh, yeah, that, and a few drunken Greeks getting all worked up...

Count me as another who used to drink Metaxa regularly (5 and 7 star) but haven't had it for quite a while. I'll have to try some again soon to see how I like it now.

And it's nice to know that I'm not the only one who's had their Ouzo-drinking career come to a bad end. Mine happened on a weekend at a condo at a ski resort. We got up there and it was raining, so we spent the day drinking (lots of) Ouzo in the lodge. Then we went for a big supper that included multiple bottles of champagne, wine, cocktails, after-dinner drinks, etc. For whatever reason, my body blamed the Ouzo for the next morning. That was about twenty years ago, and Ouzo and I have yet to repair our relationship.

I don't like anise flavor in my liquor, so I've never drunk enough ouzo to have a bad experience with it.

I have no experience with Metaxa. I'm told that, whatever its merits as a beverage, it works well as a paint and varnish remover. Not as good in that department as Grappa or Marc d'Alsace, though.

-Paul W.

Metaxa is actually pretty good - not raw 5 star).

I also had an early run in with Tequila, and have never gone back.....