It’s very hard to know how to answer certain invitations. “Mike, would you like to come to a breakfast to try an amazing Greek spirit?” Well, you can’t say no can you? Not sure I’ve ever tried to pair a wine with my cornflakes, let alone a spirit, but life’s full of these little mysteries isn’t it? So last week I trundled off to the Hoxton Hotel to meet the guys and girls from Metaxa.
It’s Not A Brandy, Is It?
Before I went I was trying to suss out what Metaxa actually was. Wikipedia came up with a “kind of Greek brandy”. I do quite a bit with brandy and brandy producers, and they’d be pretty pissed off if they thought someone was ripping off their product. So I was a bit unsure on walking in. But not a word of it. Everyone at Metaxa stressed very vociferously “this is NOT brandy”. This is a complete unique spirit.
So What Is It Then?
Metaxa is made by adding seriously sweet Muscat wine to a grape spirit and distilling it. Up side of that is you balance the body and the bitterness of the spirit and add in Muscat’s floral and fruit flavours too. It’s those flavours that can last for ages in the ageing barrels. This gives lots of blending options for floral, fruity, or spicy tastes. In the end you get quite a viscous spirit, with incredible smoothness. Souns like I robbed that straight from the press release doesn’t it?! Well I didn’t, you can tell from the grammar!
Where Can You Get It?
Ah, tricky question. At the minute it’s pretty up-market bars and hotels and Greek establishments. Probably doesn’t help you much. Although, that being said, as with most of these things, this is going to be one to keep in the backs of your minds, to have heard the word “Metaxa” and then get all excited when you walk into a bar and it’s on the menu. If that happens, then don’t just bore it off, get one ordered (or at least try and grab a free taster from the bar!).
I’ve been feeling lucky in the past week or so about how many new things I’ve been lucky enough to try. This one tasted great and really peaked my interest. Do try a chance to have a go.
Cheers
QUESTION: Have you tried Metaxa before? Where did you find it?
