Definition: arac fakra

Arak is Lebanon's national aniseed-flavoured distilled drink. To discover its secret, you need to visit Kfardebian – the village of springs – located in the heart of Mount Lebanon at an altitude of between 1,000 and 2,826 metres. The area is picturesque, with its green mountains, huge boulders, oak, walnut and pine forests, apple and mulberry orchards, and vineyards. It is here, in the heart of the divine valleys, that the Milk Spring (Nabeh el-Laban) and the Honey Spring (Nabeh el-Assal) flow. Then, along a winding road, we arrive at the "Temples of Fakra", where for thousands of years, from the time of the Phoenicians through the Greeks, Romans and Byzantines, the gods of love and wine have been worshipped. The purpose of the trip was to meet Dr Carlos Guillermo Adem, president of Arak Fakra, an arak distillery founded in the early 18th century by a traditional Lebanese noble family from Mount Lebanon, whose members were consuls of France and Venice. Arak Fakra owes its exceptional qualities to two Lebanese grape varieties, "Obeidi" and "Merwayh", and to aniseed sourced exclusively from "Hineh" in Syria. For both the vines and the aniseed, the fortunate combination of soil, climate and light has a major influence on the aroma. Water from the Assal and Laban springs adds a final touch of finesse. Starting with new wine with an alcohol content of 7 to 10 degrees, distillation takes place in the months following its production and, in any case, before spring so that it has not "worked". The process is carried out in traditional stills. These devices have not changed over time because they are the only ones that allow all the finest aromas of the wine, which connoisseurs can identify and appreciate, to pass into the brandy. These stills comprise the following essential parts on the boiler: the cucurbit, the cap, the neck and the condenser or coil passing through a tank of cold water to facilitate condensation. Distillation is carried out in three stages. The first stage produces the "brouillis", with an alcohol content of 45 to 50 degrees, the second stage produces the "bonne chauffe", with an alcohol content of 69 to 71 degrees, which is mixed with aniseed and distilled again to produce arak. These delicate operations are only entrusted to experienced people. The heads and tails of the distillation must be removed and distilled again, as they are full of phlegm and bad tastes. To all these elements, whose happy combination gives rise to the new Arak, two other very precious ones are now added: the clay of Beit-Chabab, from which the jars are made, and time, whose action allows it to reach its full potential and that much-desired mellowness. Man intervenes with all his art and experience only to harmonise these works of nature. Since the Phoenicians, and perhaps even before, terracotta jars have been used to store beverages. It was therefore only natural that the Lebanese used them to age Arak. And since then, despite numerous experiments, nothing better has been found. There is a natural and mysterious affinity between clay and Arak. Of course, new jars must undergo a kind of ageing training. The first spirit stays in them for only a few months. The second can remain there for a year or more until the jar can improve the same Arak indefinitely. Arak remains colourless like water. It still needs to be aged and refined to give it, with the help of time and clay, that incomparable smoothness and mellowness that makes up the rich bouquet that is the hallmark and renown of this drink of the gods. During ageing, an essential phenomenon occurs under the action of time: a kind of oxidation of the Arak, which breathes through the clay, refines, becomes mellow, losing any traces of phlegm it may have retained, and is enriched by a constant and mysterious exchange with the air. This is indeed an intimate marriage, a fusion in complete mutual harmony. The price of this improvement is evaporation and a decrease in alcohol content. There comes a moment when the Arak reaches its full potential, the perfect harmony of its components, a moment when it releases the happily combined scents of wine and aniseed, of which they are the quintessence. It is at this moment that Arak Fakra is bottled.