Ouzo Barbayanni
LIQUOR DISTILLERY IN PLOMARI LESVOS
Ouzo Barbayanni Greek Ouzo Liquor Plomari Lesvos Greece
The year was 1860, when Efstathios J. Barbayannis arrived at the picturesque port of Plomari, on the rich, fertile and sunny island of Lesvos, Greece. The island's running waters gave life to an excellent variety of aniseed and to hundreds of rare, sweet-smelling herbs.
Efstathios Barbayannis brought his experience and knowledge of the distillation process with him from the Russian city of Odessa and started his own distillery which produced first-rate quality greek ouzo.
Today, in the settlement of Plomari, Lesvos, in the ultra-modern, privately-owned Barbayannis ouzo production facilities, technology is combined with history and tradition.
The Barbayannis family has faithfully preserved the 160-year-old ouzo tradition, following in the footsteps of Efstathios Barbayannis. The family carefully selects high quality, natural ingredients for its ouzo and pays special attention to the ouzo distillation procedure, which is still carried out in the old, traditional way.
For the past five generations, the members of the famous ouzo producing Barbayannis family have passionately pursued perfection in the taste of ouzo aperitif and have maintained traditional ouzo distillation techniques.
Throughout the world, the Barbayannis name is strongly connected with ouzo aperitif, the finest Greek ouzo liquor beverage. This success is due to the secret family recipe, which has been the basis of the quality and taste of Ouzo Barbayannis for five generations.
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Production
Discover the procedure of Barbayanni ouzo production all the way from the harvest to the bottle.
PRODUCTIONHOW TO DRINK OUZO
You can enjoy ouzo on its own or mixed with some water.
The addition of water will create an emulsion (‘milky’ look) and will reveal yet another character of ouzo. The essential oils of anise, the herb that gives ouzo its distinctive aroma, are soluble in the high-grade neat ouzo. But with the addition of water, the percentage of alcohol decreases, the essential oils get insoluble, and this results in the changing of the colour and the enhancement of the aroma that will ‘flood’ the senses of the drinker.
Nature and the distinctive qualities of ouzo certainly do reveal its Mediterranean and, above all, its Greek character. The aroma of anise that emerges from a glass filled with ouzo, creates an amazing feeling of serenity, happiness, warms up the atmosphere among people sitting around the table, and certainly provides images of the Greek summer, sun, and sea; the pure essence of Greece!
The habit of diluting alcoholic beverages appears at the beginning of every spirit and then tends to disappear due to the tendency of the drinkers to enjoy them pure, without any additions. In the case of ouzo, though, still people continue enjoying it mixed with water. Its consumption temperature, as is the case with all strong aroma alcoholic beverages, must not be high. For this reason, people prefer to add pure cold water for the temperature to drop, and in many cases, they add a couple of ice cubes. The serving glass is usually tall and tube-shaped. This helps with the addition of water and ice cubes while at the same time keeps the essential oils inside the glass.
In the old times, the ouzo glass was solely small and with a narrow lip. The reason for this was to avoid inhaling alcohol and getting drunk faster (they used to call it ‘kanonaki’, meaning little cannon).
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(MEZEDES)
Ouzo can be combined ideally with any appetizer (aka mezes) and stimulate the palate’s pleasure. It accompanies and enhances perfectly seafood (octopus, prawns, lobster, scallops, anchovies, roe, shells, sardines, etc.) and meat (sausages, meatballs, salami, salted pork, pastrami, etc.). Also, you accompany ouzo with cheese, salads, pickles, olives, and much more...
In case you are visiting the island of Lesvos, we suggest you try the local delicacies, and, of course, try the famous Barbayanni Greek Ouzo. Some of the great local appetizers that you must surely try are: ladotiri (local type of cheese), Kalloni sardines, and strapatsada (eggs with grated tomato or with a mix of vegetables), pastrami, courgette flowers, octopus in wine sauce, gkiouzlemedes (local pies filled with cheese and egg), vinegary olives, arugula, watercress, radishes, pickles, asparagus with eggs or boiled, salted fish, sea urchin eggs, and steamed sea shells.
Enjoy the 100% distilled Barbayanni Greek Ouzo!
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