In Greece people drink mostly in company. Coffee is sipped for hours, alcohol always goes with food, and getting drunk in public is frowned upon.
Coffee
Greek coffee (ellinikos kafes) is made by boiling very finely ground coffee with water and sugar in a briki, a small long-handled copper pot, and served with the grounds in the cup, with a glass of water. Wait for the grounds to settle and don't drink to the bottom. You choose the sugar when ordering:
| How to order | Sugar |
|---|---|
| Sketos | No sugar |
| Metrios | Medium, one teaspoon |
| Glykos | Sweet, two teaspoons |
| Vary glykos | Very sweet |
In summer, though, Greeks mostly drink iced coffee. The frappé, instant coffee shaken with water, ice and sugar into a thick foam, was invented almost by accident at the 1957 Thessaloniki Fair. It has now been largely replaced by the freddo espresso, espresso shaken with ice, and the freddo cappuccino, topped with cold milk foam. They are sipped slowly through a straw, sometimes for two hours. See the kafenio.
Spirits
| Drink | What it is | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Ouzo | Anise-flavoured spirit, turns white with water and ice | Everywhere; Lesbos (Plomari) is its capital |
| Tsipouro | Grape-pomace brandy, with or without anise | Thessaly, Macedonia, Epirus; Volos for tsipouradika |
| Tsikoudia or raki | Grape-pomace brandy without anise, very dry | Crete, offered at the end of a meal |
| Mastiha | Sweet liqueur flavoured with mastic resin | Chios |
| Kitro | Citron liqueur | Naxos |
| Rakomelo | Hot raki with honey and spices | Crete and the mountains, in winter |
Wine and beer
Greece has made wine for four thousand years and today has a lively wine scene based on native grape varieties. Retsina, white wine flavoured with pine resin, is the most typical. See Greek wine.
The most common beers include Mythos, Alfa, Fix (the oldest, founded in the 19th century by a Bavarian) and Vergina; in recent years many craft breweries have opened, for example in Crete, Corfu and Santorini.
Soft drinks
- Water: tap water is drinkable in Athens, Thessaloniki and most of the mainland; on many islands it is desalinated or brackish and bottled water is better. Restaurants and cafés often bring a free glass of water.
- Tsai tou vounou, "mountain tea": an infusion of sideritis, a herb that grows on Greek mountains, considered good for health.
- Vissinada, sour cherry syrup diluted with water; Greek portokalada and lemonada, orangeade and lemonade.
- Ayran and xinogalo, fermented milk drinks common in the north.
See also eating out in Greece and sweets.