Rakı, the Turkish Drink of Champions

Rakı şişesinde balık olsam.

“In a bottle of Rakı, o that I were a fish.”

-Orhan Veli, great Turkish poet, storyteller, and drinker

Rakı is the traditional distilled spirit of Turkey.  In fact, it is an Aegean drink and you may know it from a jaunt to Greece as Uzo.  But really, from now on you have to call it Rakı.  I insist.  You pronounce this fine beverage as RAH-kuh, and the “-kuh” is abrupt, kind of like a grunt.

Rakı is produced from grapes, and the best Turkish hooch is from black grapes, but varieties abound. Probably not a surprise, as the Aegeans invented wine.  It is meant to be drunk cold and with food.  Tradition offers one reason.  Rakı is a dinner drink, and is best consumed slowly with ample bread and company.  Thus, a party of four can drink two large bottles over the course of two or three hours, talking constantly the entire time.  You will be drunk, but feeling like a champion.  The other reason is that Rakı is extremely strong, 100 proof or so, and has mysterious, mystical qualities.  Without food and pacing, the results can be somewhat varied, from feeling terrible, to loud obnoxious singing and standing on tables, to running half-naked around the streets of Istanbul.

In addition to these stipulations, there is a specific method to the preparation and drinking of raki.  First, there are always two glasses per person: the Rakı-drink, and water.  Regarding the Rakı, pour 1/2-1 inch into the thin glass, or 1-2 inch for a “duble”.  Then poor chilled water up to the glass’s top.  The liquid will turn milky.  Most people add ice at this point, but I have heard from authoritative sources that ice can dull the subtler flavors.  In comes the metal glass holders:  put ice around the outer ring, the glass in the raised receptacle in the middle, and you may keep a Rakı cold but ice-less on a hot Aegean day.  (but really, just use ice, because warm Rakı is an “acquired taste” for your neighborhood akşamcı).  Take a sip of Rakı, then a sip of water, repeat until the night seems it could last weeks.

There are several very traditional ways to drink Rakı with food.  The primary is as accompanied by melon and cheese on a plate.  The melon variety is usually either Casaba, Crenshaw, or Juan Canary, but basically must be very sweet.  The cheese called is “White cheese” in Turkish (Turks: not known for highly specific food names), and can best be described as a wet, soft Feta with a harder taste.  To the melon-cheese plate, I recommend adding toasted pieces of white bread.  Better yet, offering bruschetta on toast.   Better yet, coming to Turkey and drinking Raki with me at the neighborhood mayhane.  Most importantly, Rakı is a drink that should be consumed with people, food, and a long evening ahead.  Afiyet Olsun.