Arak

Discover araks selected by chefs and sommeliers from Michelin-starred fine dining restaurants. A selection by credible and legitimate professionals to help you find your favourite arak.

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Best araks

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Taste one of the best araks. Gift an exceptional bottle of arak. Enrich your bar or cellar with a prestigious bottle of arak. Find the restaurants where you can enjoy rare arak references. Discover all the information to better understand arak and its specific features in order to easily choose your brand or bottle of arak.

Alcohol volume of the arak: 53°

Best arak brands

Refer to the opinions of chefs, sommeliers and bartenders from Michelin-starred fine dining restaurants worldwide to discover the best arak brands in the world. A ranking and comparison of the most highly valued arak brands and bottles in Michelin-starred fine dining restaurants by experts in haute cuisine.

Arak reference / Origin of the arak / Alcohol volume of the arak Arak El Massaya / Lebanon / 53° The best araks on the menu of Michelin-starred fine dining restaurants.

Arak is a spirit produced from fermented grape must (grape juice, cluster and flesh) mixed with anise seeds. The mixture is then distilled once or twice to obtain arak. Arak is a traditional alcoholic beverage of the Eastern Mediterranean. The term arak can also be spelt in several ways such as arac, arack, araka, araki, raki, racque depending on the regional designation. Arak is not protected by legislation. There is no PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) that precisely defines the composition and production method of arak, nor any PGI (Protected Geographical Indication).

Arab alchemists have been using the technique of distilling wine to obtain strong spirits since the 8th century. The first productions of arak (distillation of grape must and anise) date back to the 11th century. Historians agree that arak was created in the Near East, but it is not possible today to identify the country that produced the first versions of arak. The term \"arak\" appears in Arabic literature to refer to distilled wine and brandy. The first exports of arak to Europe took place in the 14th century. The expansion of the Arab-Muslim empire favoured the popularity of arak in some regions of Asia and Eastern Europe. Thus, arak is mentioned in some Asian and European cultures. Arak is notably part of the composition of arak-madu, a rice-based alcoholic beverage produced in Indonesia. There is also a variant of arak in Mongolia where arak is mixed with fermented mare's milk. This beverage is called arkhi.

The meaning of the word arak may have several origins. The name arak could come from Iraq, where it may have originally been produced. Other sources claim that the word arak comes from the razaki grape variety, which can be used in the composition of the beverage. A final explanation is that the word arak comes from the Arabic عرق [ʕaraq], meaning to distil. Arak meaning \"to sweat\" in Arabic and Araki meaning \"that which makes you sweat\" would be the origins of the word arak. Indeed, heavy consumption of arak can tend to promote sweating, and the drop-by-drop distillation step of arak recalls this phenomenon of perspiration.

There are other alcoholic beverages whose names are very close to the word arak but which have little or no relation to arak. There is an alcoholic beverage in Iran called aragh. The term aragh thus refers to fermented grape juice distilled into brandy, and more generally, all distilled spirits. Arak is also a designation used to characterise any alcoholic beverage in Réunion. Finally, arak is also an alcoholic beverage completely different from arrack, which is an anise spirit produced via several fermentations of multiple components such as rice, sugar cane, palm, barley, grapes and dates.

Arak is a spirit very close to raki, ouzo, pastis, sambuca, matalauva and Kûstennebel. All these beverages are spirits produced with anise. However, all these alcoholic beverages differ from each other due to their production method or their components.

Arak is a translucent beverage and therefore colourless when pure.

Production of arak

Given that arak is not legally defined, arak can have varied ingredients and production methods depending on the producers and distilleries where it is made. However, arak is always grape must and anise distilled to produce a spirit. Arak can be produced from several grape varieties such as Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Obeidi from the Bekaa, or razaki. The anise added before or after the first distillation can be green anise or anise seeds.

Arak is an alcoholic beverage obtained by extraction, fermentation, distillation and dilution of grape juice:

Fermentation of grape must: the grape must is fermented for several weeks to convert part of the sugar into alcohol. Extraction of anise: after harvesting, anise seeds or green anise are crushed, chopped, dried or not, then mixed with the grape must. Distillation of the liquid: The resulting liquid can be mixed and distilled in a still once or twice to concentrate the aromas and alcohol. Arak, before being bottled, can be aged for several months or years. Arak can be stored in clay jars or ceramic amphorae.

Arak is mainly consumed in the Fertile Crescent in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, the West Bank, Jordan, Palestine, Israel and partially in Turkey. For religious reasons related to Islamic precepts, the production and consumption of arak is common in the Near East only in Lebanon and Syria, as Islam forbids its followers from consuming alcohol. The main arak distilleries and brands are therefore found in Lebanon or Syria. Arak is a little-known beverage worldwide. Arak is mainly exported to Europe on a small scale. Arak is enjoying a new boom today among consumers as an original alcoholic beverage.

There are several renowned arak brands such as Abou Akl, Al-Ksar, Batta, Bear-eagle, Ceylon, El Massaya, Fakra, Hadda, Hunter, Kouroum, Lérous.

The majority of arak productions today are industrial. Rarer artisanal arak productions also exist.

Consumption of arak

Arak is a particularly aromatic alcoholic beverage. On the nose, arak has floral and vegetal aromas. On the palate, arak can be distinguished by notes of sweet spices and herbs.

Arak can be enjoyed as an aperitif, during the meal, but also as a digestif. Arak is drunk pure and chilled when consumed as a digestif. To preserve all the richness of arak, it is not recommended to add ice cubes. Indeed, water tends to dilute arak and thus reduce the concentration of its flavours.

When enjoyed as an aperitif or digestif, arak is drunk diluted with water and ice cubes. This lightens the alcohol content of the beverage and makes it more thirst-quenching. In Lebanon, the custom is to dilute one volume of arak with one volume of water (half-half) or two volumes of water (one-third / two-thirds). It then takes on the whitish colour characteristic of anise-based beverages. Arak therefore has the particularity of turning white and cloudy on contact with water like pastis, raki, sambuca, anisette, absinthe or ouzo. This is called the \"Ouzo effect\" (also known as louching or spontaneous emulsification), which is the formation of a milky-looking emulsion that occurs when water is added to arak.

Traditionally, in the Near East, arak is drunk to accompany the meal. The traditional Lebanese mezze is a dish eaten with a glass of arak. The chefs of Michelin-starred fine dining restaurants who work with Levant cuisine appreciate arak, which is a flagship alcoholic beverage of Lebanese gastronomy.

Arak is an alcoholic beverage that can be used in cocktails.

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The selection of premium araks

How are araks selected on Bestwine • Online? Bestwine • Online lists the araks present on the wine lists and in the cellars of the most well-known and recognised fine dining restaurants around the world. Arak references acclaimed by the greatest chefs and sommeliers of haute cuisine, themselves valued by critics. Only arak references sold online are presented to you to allow you to buy them easily.

How is the reference of best araks updated? The reference of the best araks is updated daily by integrating new references coming from the wine lists of fine dining restaurants made available to us. Likewise, we update commercial and promotional offers to allow you to buy a quality arak online at the best price. We are committed to presenting only arak references from the wine lists of award-winning fine dining restaurants.

Why choose an arak reference via Bestwine • Online? Chefs and sommeliers of fine dining restaurants are the guarantors of the excellence of haute cuisine by offering the best products, dishes and beverages in their restaurants. Naturally, the chefs and sommeliers of the greatest fine dining restaurants offer on their menus the very best in arak.