Verino Tsipouro Ipsicaminos Review

Tsipouro is a Greek brandy, called tsikoudia on the island of Crete, and similar to raki. You’ll find it all over Greece… and now in the USA too.

The spirit tsipouro is drunk all over Greece, mainly as an after-dinner brandy-style drink, though it’s especially popular in the northern part of the mainland, and on Crete, where it’s called tsikoudia.

What is Tsipouro?

You can make tsipouro in two ways. You can use what’s left of the grapes once the juice has been squeezed out for wine, in which case tsipouro is a pomace brandy and is similar to raki, or you can use the grape juice itself. Some distillers flavor their tsipouro with anise, in the way that ouzo is made, but most tsipouro is unflavored. Tsipouro is also usually unaged, though some distillers are experimenting with barrel-aged tsipouro.

Verina Tsipouro Bottle Greek version of label — The Original Greek Label

Verino Tsipouro Ipsicaminos

This particular tsipouro is made by the Verino Distillery in Argos, near Nafplion, and I recently reviewed their Apostalagma Ouzo, which was 59% ABV and amazingly good, one of the best Greek spirits I’ve ever tasted. You can read a little about the distillery on that page.

Verino’s tsipouro is made from 100% moschofilero grapes, an indigenous Greek grape that grows especially well in the Greek Peloponnese, where the distillery is located. It’s an extremely versatile grape, too. You can make white wine with it, sparkling wine, dessert wine, and spirits. Verino use the grape juice for their tsipouro, buying the grapes from the nearby Domaine Skouras, a winery which is just a few minutes’ drive from the distillery and which has won numerous awards around the world.

Moschofilero Grapes in Greece — Moschofilero Grapes

Verino Tsipouro Ipsicaminos Bottle

According to the label, Ipsicaminos seems to mean ‘blast furnace’, a suggestion that this tsipouro means business. The bottle’s tall and slim, like their ouzo bottle, nothing fancy but elegant and worthy of a serious spirit.

Verino Tsipouro Ipsicaminos Review

On the nose there is, not surprisingly, a brandy-like aroma. It’s also quite floral/sweet, a little like Metaxa, but whereas Metaxa uses rose petals (amongst other things), this is more like the scent of jasmine, a familiar aroma in many parts of Greece on a hot summer evening. The grapes play their part in this as they’re noted for their aromatic nature, which is why they also make good dessert wines. Most dominant, though, is the alcohol, which gets right inside your nose and draws those other pleasant aromas with it. There’s a hint of pear drops too, a slight banana-like smell.

The tsipouro is 44% ABV, but you would think it was stronger than that from the nose and on the palate. It’s very smooth and gives a warm feel around the mouth, with tastes of jasmine again, general floral tastes, and a little citrus to balance it out. There’s a very warm and smooth finish as well.

In all, this is a delicate and subtle tsipouro – unlike some I’ve had on my travels in Greece! Rough versions will strip the enamel off your teeth. This Ipsicaminos, however, will definitely have you coming back for more and can hold its own with brandies from other countries around the Mediterranean, including Spain and France.

How to Drink Tsipouro

Though it’s a brandy and you can enjoy a glass after a meal, a good tsipouro like this also goes well with a host of meze dishes, the Greek equivalent of tapas: sardines, anchovies, cheeses, for example.

Cocktails

You can use it to make a Tsipouro Negroni, as a substitute for gin, and though I’ve not tried it I can see it working as tsipouro definitely has some gin-like qualities. You can also make a Greek Daiquiri, as an alternative to rum. Like the grape that it’s made from, this is a very versatile spirit.