Aphrodite’s Rock – this can be found on the southwest coast, close to Paphos.

 THIS is the birthplace of Aphrodite, (the goddess of beauty and love), and is one of the islands most famous attractions. In Greek this is known as ‘Petra tou Romiou’ which means Rock Of The Greek or Aphrodite’s Rock.

In Greek mythology it is said that Aphrodite emerged from the foam of the sea at this point. Rumour has it that if you swim around the Rock naked you will be fertile for life! People also claim that to swim around the Rock brings you good luck.

A little piece of Cypriot History for you all. Now…are you all really thirsty? I hope so! These are the drinks of Cyprus that I would class as popular and also National drinks of the Country. They are Ouzo, Keo Premium Beer and V.S.O.P. Keo Brandy. Ouzo is also popular in Greece and is consumed there as well.

Ouzo.

OUZO is an aniseed flavoured alcoholic beverage, and is made from a precise combination of pressed grapes,  herbs and berries including aniseed, liquorice, mint, wintergreen, fennel and hazelnut.

Ouzo is normally served as an aperitif, but can also be used in some mixed drinks and cocktails.

When mixing Ouzo with water it will turn whitish and opaque. The reason is that the aniseed oil dissolves and becomes invisible when mixed with a conventional alcohol content, but as soon as the alcohol content is reduced, the essential oils transform into white crystals, which you cannot see through.

Keo Premium Beer.

KEO PREMIUM BEER is produced using malt, maize, hops, water and yeast. I find it a unique flavoured beer, with a pleasant aroma and taste. It can be purchased in bottles, like in the picture above, and aluminium cans and kegs. I find it tastes much better and more refreshing from a bottle, certainly chilled and then poured into a chilled glass.

V.S.O.P. Keo Brandy.

V.S.O.P. KEO BRANDY is always produced using double distillation in traditional copper pot stills of specially fermented white wines. The beautiful natural colour and exceptional aroma are developed through long periods of maturation in limousin oak. This brandy is a V.S.O.P. (Very Special Old Pale – which is stated on the neck of the bottle).

BRANDY SOURS – A drink fit for a King is essentially how the Brandy Sour came to be introduced.

In the 1930’s, King Farouk of Egypt, who reigned from 1936–1952, spent much of his time in the Troodos Mountains in Cyprus staying at the Forest Park Hotel in the mountain resort of Platres.

Despite being a Muslim, the young King had a strong liking for Western cocktails so the hotel management devised the cocktail as a substitute for iced tea. Once the drink became known in other Hotels in the resort, it quickly spread to other towns on the island.

Today the Brandy Sour is Internationally recognised as a popular Cyprus cocktail.

MAKING BRANDY SOURS – V.S.O.P. Keo Brandy is commonly used to make Brandy Sours, these can be made using two measures of brandy, one measure of Cypriot lemon squash, 2-4 drops of Angostura bitters, then top up with soda or lemonade and lastly some ice. Also garnish with lemon or lime if you wish to.

Any Comments and / or Likes would be greatly appreciated, thank you very much!

Sincerely,

Chris Bailie.

(All Pictures Courtesy of Google – Information Courtesy of ultimatecyprus.com, Wikipedia, cyprusfoodndrinks.com, keogroup.com and suite101.com).