A Muddled Thought

The story behind this article is that in the past while shopping for more well known ingredients for cocktails, I always noticed Metaxa sitting by itself on the shelf and never being used in cocktails. I thought about this as I’ve gone from cocktail lounge to cocktail lounge throughout New York City, and to the best of my recollection I haven’t seen much done with it in the world of mixology. This thought stayed in the back of my head up until recently when I decided to see what Metaxa was all about and what kind of cocktails would work well with it.
I’m one of those people that believe almost any spirit has its place in the world of cocktails and mixology. So I set out to try and prove this case with Metaxa.

First some background on this red spirit, and what exactly it is.
Metaxa can be traced back to the year 1888 when Spyros Metaxa decided to distill wine. This process resulted in what we know today as Metaxa, which comes in a variety of bottlings that are aged in limousine oak casks for a time period ranging from five years all the way up to thirty years.

I decided to specifically look at both the five-year and seven-year varieties of Metaxa and see how they could be applied to cocktails.

As with any spirit you decide to work with in mixology, it’s always good to get a sense of the flavor notes to see what other ingredients work well with the spirit your experimenting with, whether it’s fresh fruit, vegetables or other spirits.

Upon tasting the Metaxa 5 year, you’re greeted with flavors of soft fruit, a mild woody undertone, and the presence of honey.

Metaxa 5 Year

When moving up to the 7 year Metaxa those previous flavors that showed themselves in the 5 year are joined by tones of vanilla, some additional depth and slightly reminded us of a cognac.

Metaxa 7 Year

After tasting both the 5 year and 7 year varieties of Metaxa we decided to see how they worked in some cocktails.

Smokey Pom-

The Smokey Pom. A combination of Metaxa 5 Year, St. Germains, Mezcal, and Pom Juice.

Rinse a chilled Coupe Cocktail Glass with Tanteo Jalepeno Tequila

2oz Metaxa 5 Year
1/2 oz St. Germains Elderflower
1/2 oz Mezcal(Scorpion was used)
Muddled Cucumber
1/2 Pom Juice

Opa!

1 1/2 oz Mextaxa 7 Year
1/2 oz St. Germain
3/4 oz Mezcal
1/2 oz Canton Ginger
Muddled Cucumber
3 Dash Grapefruit

Garnish with Jalepeno

Summer with Venus
2 oz Buffalo Trace Bourbon
2 Barspoons Metaxa 5 Year
1/4 Cherry Heering
2 Dash Regan’s Orange Bitters

Muddled Mint

Garnish chilled Coupe with slice of Cucumber

The Summer with Venus. Buffalo Trace Bourbon, Metaxa 5 Year, Cherry Heering, Regans Orange Bitters

Sunrise in Athens

1 oz Metaxa 5 Year
1/2 oz Combier Orange Liquor
1 1/2 oz Mount Gay Rum Silver Eclipse White Rum
Shake with Ice

Serve in Champagne Flute, Top off with Champagne

Sunrise in Athens. A Combination of Metaxa 5 Year, Combier Orange Liquor, Mount Gay Silver Eclipse Rum, Topped with Champagne.

After working with it and seeing how it would work in cocktails, I’m very surprised and impressed. Who knew red wine base liquor had so much potential, flexibility to work with other ingredients and even worked well to base an entire drink around. Hopefully this article helps get the word out on the possible new cocktails that Metaxa hides in its bottle.