Water
You can buy bottled water (in plastic bottles only, no glass here and certainly
nothing returnable) but why do so when the tap water is drinkable everywhere.
Your empty plastic bottles will contribute to the mountains of plastic
rubbish for which there is no adequate recycling facility. Having said
this, I must add that water quality has deteriorated in the last few years.
Tap water used to taste great but nowadays, at least where I live it is
starting to taste like any city tap water. But it is certainly no health
hazard.
You can also ask for tap water in a carafe when eating out. There is no compulsion
to get bottled water with your meal. I always do, not to save on the (minimal)
cost but to prevent one more plastic bottle being added to the rubbish.
Juices
Fresh juice is not cheap which is surprising when you think how many oranges
there are (especially in the winter) but very tasty. You can also buy fruit
juice in tetrapacks, again, not that cheap.
Greek coffee
Don't make the faux-pas of calling this a Turkish coffee, even though it is
just the same stuff! Contrary to belief, it does not have to be a very sweet
coffee, as it is made to taste. Greek coffee is a generic name. When you
order one you use a name which will indicate how sweet you want it: "sketo" means
without sugar, "metrio" is medium sweet and "glyko" is
sweet (very). It is still the beverage of choice in the traditional "kafeneion" but
is being supplanted by espresso, filter coffee and cappuccino in the trendier
places.
Beer
Beer is definitely not a Cretan drink but has become popular with the locals
as well. You can get beer anywhere. The main Greek (or manufactured in Greece
under license) brands that I know of are Amstel, Heineken, Alfa and Mythos.
All are OK, and really a matter of taste. You can also buy imported beers
but they are more expensive.
Wine
Cretan wine is mainly home-made and rarely bottled. Traditionally there is
no such thing as red or white wine. The wine is a golden brown colour with
a fairly high alcohol content (13 - 14%) and more akin to port or sherry.
Whether you like it or not is very much a matter of taste and of course a
matter of where you drink it. This wine is pretty cheap which doesn't mean
bad.
There is also bottled wine being produced on Crete with more and more producers
and co-operatives bottling pretty decent wines.
Really good wine is generally produced in other places, for example Naoussa
which has some excellent wines, somewhat comparable to Bordeaux.
Although you can find it in most restaurants, retsina is not a traditional
Cretan wine and therefore not produced in Crete.
Spirits
Ouzo is NOT at all a Cretan drink but of course you can find it everywhere.
Generally diluted with water it can also be drunk pure.
The local "hard drink" is called "raki" or "tsikoudia" (or "tsipouro" on
the Greek mainland) and is distilled from what is left over from pressing grapes,
so in fact it is the same as the Italian grappa. It is a strong, clean
spirit, meaning that you'll get drunk on it quickly but will feel halfway
human the next day. It is served everywhere, as a welcome drink or to round
up a meal.
A rare variation of it is called 'mournoraki' and is distilled from mulberries.
It is very strong but quite nice. Almost impossible to buy.
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