Ouzo "This is "uso Massalia", my friends"—referring to its high quality. The term subsequently spread by word of mouth, until "tsipouro" gradually became known as ouzo. However, the major Greek dictionaries derive it from the Turkish word "üzüm" 'grape'. Ouzo production begins with distillation in copper stills of 96% alcohol by volume (ABV) rectified spirit. Anise is added, sometimes with other flavorings such as star anise, fennel, mastic, cardamom, coriander, cloves, and cinnamon. The flavoring ingredients are often closely guarded company "recipes", and distinguish one ouzo from another. The result is a flavored alcoholic solution known as "flavored ethyl alcohol", or
Ouzo effect Ouzo effect The ouzo effect (also louche or spontaneous emulsification) is a cloudy ("louche") oil-in-water emulsion that is formed when water is added to ouzo and other , such as pastis, rakı, arak, sambuca and absinthe. Such microemulsions occur with only minimal mixing and are highly stable. The ouzo effect occurs when a strongly hydrophobic essential oil such as "trans"-anethole is dissolved in a water-miscible solvent, such as ethanol, and the concentration of ethanol is lowered by addition of small amounts of water. Oil-in-water emulsions are not normally stable. Oil droplets coalesce until complete phase separation is achieved at macroscopic