Metaxa, 5 Stars, The Original Greek Spirit, 70cl, Pack of 1

Product Information

Peel lemon for garnish (refer to Questions below if you want directions on how to peel lemon garnish). Squeeze 2 oz of fresh lemon juice.

Metaxa 12 Stars is a smooth, premium Greek brandy that is perfect for sipping on its own or enjoying with friends. It has a rich, complex flavour that makes it perfect for after-dinner drinks or enjoyed neat. I have to admit that I’m biased. I’ve been enjoying Metaxa for years on my many visits to Greece, including lots of trips while researching this book when I felt I deserved a reward at the end of a long day. Add granulated sugar to a small plate. Dip the rim of your glass into some lemon juice and then dip glass into the sugar. Metaxa is made using aged wine distillates, Muscat wines and botanicals sourced from the Mediterranean.

On the nose, it’s very floral, with distinctive notes of rose petals, lemon blossom, and jasmine. There are additional notes of candied orange, assorted wood spices, and vanilla. There’s a hint of violets in there too, probably a spin-off from the roses. Perhaps figs as well, another sweetness, and a hint of dark coffee richness. It’s certainly an interesting aroma and not quite like anything else while resembling both brandy and whisky. On the palate, it’s very smooth and honey sweet, with notes of dark dried fruit, chocolate, and dried and candied orange zest. It’s more peppery and exhibits a substantial palate weight and a viscous, oily character. Strain into your sugar rimmed old fashioned glass or low-ball glass, add a twist of lemon and enjoy! The other two Metaxas in their regular range are 5-Star and 7-Star, so you can figure out that they contain spirits aged for at least five and seven years respectively. So while the number of stars isn’t a comment on how ‘good’ the spirits are, you would naturally expect the 12-star to be richer and more complex, thanks to the extra time in the barrel. More About the Metaxa Stars

However, one of the known ingredients is rose water made from the May rose. Also known as Provence rose, it is a very aromatic hybrid rose developed by Dutch breeders sometime after the 17th century. May rose is also a component of Chanel No. 5 perfume.Metaxa 12-Star is the most mature of the regular range of Metaxa Greek spirits, and there’s a push on to familiarize American palates with this classic Greek drink, or the Original Greek Spirit. I never cared much for the taste of it myself so I've come up with my own Metaxa drink by adding sugar syrup, water and lemon in a tall glass of ice with mint leaves. It's very cool and refreshing. Generally speaking, the older Metaxa expressions show more dark, dried fruit elements and a more significant spiciness and pepperiness. Younger expressions are more floral, with more noticeable rose petal aromas and fruit notes that lean more toward stone fruit, like apricot and peach, and less toward dark dried fruits.

The base spirit is aged for one year in casks made from French Limousin oak. This large-grained and tannic wood offers good extraction and speeds up maturation. Later, when cognac became strictly defined Metaxa and other drinks had to redefine themselves, and Metaxa became a brandy. For years it was regarded as the Greek brandy. But then the spirits world defined what a brandy was, and brandy was a drink that, amongst other things, did not contain wine.This is a picture of grapes of the variety muscat. They are used to produce the famous sweet Vin ... [+] Doux wine on the island of Samos. getty A quantity of wine is blended with the aged distillate and casked at a 50% ABV for three to four additional years in Limousin oak casks. Napacabs has the special reserve Metaxa brandy which is a 30 year old blend for a reasonable price. Although Metaxa was originally compared to a Cognac and subsequently to a brandy, it is actually not classified as either of these spirits. Brandy, by definition, does not include wine. Metaxa has the presence of very fine muscat wines from Samos, an island in the north east Aegean, and Mediterranean botanicals. As such, Metaxa is a spirit in a category of its own. Metaxa is a stylish product. It comes in a solid dark blue box and the bottle inside is equally handsome, with a matching blue top and gold lettering for the label. With the deep brown spirit inside, it certainly looks classy and very tempting.

The rose petals are gathered from bushes grown at an altitude of around 2,500 feet. They are macerated in a solution of water and alcohol for up to one year. All the ingredients in the herbal elixir are macerated separately and then combined. The mixture is unaged. A small quantity of the herbal elixir is blended with the aged mix of spirit and wine. On the nose it’s like a brandy, but a brandy with a subtle difference. There’s a floral sweetness in there but it’s a really rich floral sweetness, not the subtler notes you might get with a Scotch or a brandy. That’s because Metaxa also has botanicals in it, including rose petals. The third ingredient used in crafting Metaxa is an herbal extract. The complete list of elements in the extract is known to only a handful of people. In addition to her role as a DelightedCooking editor, Niki enjoys educating herself about interesting Metaxa’s core line consists of 5 Star, 7 Star, 12 Star, and Private Reserve bottlings. There is also a 3 Star expression that is only available in Greece. None of these expressions carry an age statement. The different numbers are meant to convey quality levels, with Metaxa 12 and Private Reserve being the highest rated rather than maturation length. Generally speaking, the higher the number, the more aging it has received and the greater the percentage of Samos wine in the blend.We referenced bon appetit to learn how to make a lemon peel garnish here. WHAT TYPE OF METAXA SHOULD I USE?