#tsipouro

Σήμερα 25 Μαρτίου,γιορτάζουμε την ελευθερία με γεύσεις που ξυπνούν μνήμες🇬🇷🍽

Ares: *a little thirsty after a long day of fighting*.....*looks into Olympus's literal only modern day fridge* ....oh sweet an open bottle of water. *Drinks it*

*later*

Dionysus and Apollo: *both dressed up like crime scene investigators and have set up an investigation on why Ares is on the floor pretty much unconscious*

Hermes: *deadass painting the body outline and Ares hasn't even been removed*

Artemis: *taking pictures of Ares on the floor*

Aphrodite: *sobbing thinking he's dead*

Zeus: ....well it's finally happened my hummingbird.

Hera: *equally unsurprised* yep.....we need to put a label on that tsipouro bottle.

One of the many great traditions in Greece is the enjoyment of a couple of shot glasses of tsipouro liqueur accompanied by meze in the company of friends. Tsipouro is widely available in great quantities and it is still relatively cheap.

The reason tsipouro is so inexpensive is because it can be homemade. As a result, there is a completely unregulated market around it, resulting in the loss of tens of millions of euros in taxes every year. Now the Greek government has decided to ban the sale of draft tsipouro altogether.

Tsipouro – made from grape residue after grapes are pressed to make wine – is the drink of choice in celebrations in the Greek provinces. One of the reasons tsipouro – or “tsikoudia,” as they call it on Crete – is so popular is because it doesn’t cause dizziness or headaches if consumed in moderation.

Tsipouro is also inexpensive and relatively easy to make. There are countless families across Greece who make their own liqueur at home; everyone is even allowed to make up to 150 liters per year for personal use.

Usually, the tsipouro served in bars, tavernas and restaurants is in draft form, sold to the businesses by small distillers. It can also be served bottled, when produced by big distillery companies. In Greece there are several tsipouradika specializing in many varieties of tsipouro and serving special meze dishes to accompany the drink.

The beautiful seaside city of Volos is famous for its numerous  tsipouradika and the delicious meze they serve there.

The Association of Traditional Distillers of the Prefecture of Heraklion has decided to donate 4 to 5 tons “tsikoudia” to the Greek state for the productions of antiseptics. The offer comes as tons of the grape-based pomace brandy remain unsold due to the movement restrictions measures against the coronavirus and the closure of restaurants, taverns and bars since beginning of March.

Tsikoudia with more than 60% alcohol can be used for the production of alcohol after a second distillation, the President of the Association, Tassos Vrentzos, told media.

“The state is looking to import alcohol and no one has talked about it to domestic producers who have the opportunity to contribute,” he said adding that alone the Prefecture of Heraklio can donate 4-5 tons of tsikoudia.

It is up to the “state” to take advantage of this opportunity, “we have the raw materials we can help,” he underlined.

He stressed that the available tsikoudia can be delivered immediately, while more quantity could be allocated if necessary.

Minister for Rural Development, Vaggelis Apostolou, shocked local authorities and professional groups of Tyrnavos when he told them last Friday that the government is considering to impose a 6-euro tax on tsipouro, the strong distilled grape pomace brandy for which Tyrnavos in Central Greece is famous.

Apostolou argued that that the tax raise from €0.55  to €6 per liter is an “equivalent revenue measure” as the government has long expressed its intention to abolish the special tax on wine.

“Consumers’ health and tax evasion through tsipouro sold in bulk are our main concerns,” the minister claimed trying to justify the unbelievable tax that will make tsipouro more expensive than whiskey, vodka and other ‘hard’ alcoholic beverages.

Such a tax is a big blow to the industry and every liter of bottled tsipouro that will leave the area will bring down the consumption.

Tsipouro-makers fear that the extraordinary high taxation will violently crash the export efforts that have begun to bear fruits in recent years.