Cypriot Drinks

Cypriot Drinks - Cyprus Usefull Information - Green Paradise North Cyprus Estates

The popular taste for wines in Cyprus is for a sweeter and heavier product than that which appeals to most foreign palates. It must be remembered that Cyprus wines are meant to be drunk with rich, highly spiced and oily meals, and they have developed so as to be gastronomically complementary to local food. But because the export of wines has become an important part of the island's economy, much thought and expert attention has gone into producing something drier and lighter than the traditional village wine. Nowadays quantities of red wine of the Macon or Beaujolais type, a dark rose known as kokkineli and a white wine made from Xinisteri grapes (grown principally in the Paphos district) are perhaps the most popular for the northern European market. By far the greater proportion of Cyprus wines is produced by three firms: Keo, Sodap (a co operative wine factory) and Haggipavulu, a business of long standing which has been reconstituted into the Cyprus Wine Association of ETCO.

The most palatable red wines are Othello, Afames, Dark Lady, Olympus Claret, Cceur de Lion and the justifiably more expensive Domaine d'Ahuera. Sodap's Muscat is recommended as a dessert wine. The white wines Aphrodite, Keo Hock, Arsinoe and White Lady are eminently drinkable and, for a sweet table wine, St Panteleimon. Rosella and Pink Lady are perhaps the best of the rose type. Until recently the sherries did not prove so adaptable, due to the high sugar content of Cyprus grapes. However, drier types have now come on the market, notably Juno Extra Dry, Keo Fino and Olympus Pale Dry. Emva sherries are exported in quantity to the United Kingdom. Commandaria is, of course, the most famous of all the wines of Cyprus , because of its association with the commandarias (village estates) administered by the Knights Hospitaller from Kolossi Castle. This is a dessert wine, and should be taken with appropriate food, or as a liqueur. Filfar is a fragrant orange liqueur, whereas sourmada, flavoured with almonds, is a delicious product of the Pitsilia district. Local brandy or Zivania, where procurable, is very strong and should (as it were) be drunk with open eyes. Other popular drinks are ousy and beer, brewed by Keo in Limassol. Brandy sours, based on the Cyprus spirit, make one of the most refreshing and inexpensive alcoholic hot weather drinks. In season fresh orange juice is obtainable from street sellers, though not always at the breakfast tables of hotels.

Actually, water comes highest in popularity of all drinks. A glass of it is invariably produced with coffee, other drinks, all food and sometimes simply as a gesture of hospitality. It is apt to be cold and good in fact, Cyprus like Greece, has its connoisseurs of water. Coffee comes next in the poll, though French coffee is the exception. Although the instant brands have made their encroachment into eastern Mediterranean drinking habits, it is Turkish coffee which will be produced unless the other is requested. As Turkish coffee is sweetened during the boiling process, the degree of sugar must be stipulated in advance, glykos being sweet, metrios medium and sketos unsweetened.

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