Rakomelo Cocktail Recipe
Raki warmed with honey, cinnamon and cloves — drunk hot in Crete all winter, and treated as medicine as much as drink.
- Category: Popular
- Glass: Irish coffee mug
- ABV: 14%
- Difficulty: Easy
- Prep time: ~3 min
Ingredients
- Rakomelo60 ml (2 oz)
- Honey20 ml (0.7 oz)
- Cinnamon stick1 piece
- Cloves3 piece
- Cold water60 ml (2 oz)
How to Make It
- Warm the water with the honey and spices until the honey dissolves.
- Take it off the heat and stir in the rakomelo.
- Strain out the spices.
- Serve in a warm mug with a cinnamon stick.
Garnish
Cinnamon stick
What it tastes like
The sweetness is pronounced, it has a green, botanical backdrop and there is a spiced warmth to it.
The technique
Built in the glass. Ice goes into the serving glass, the ingredients go on top, and you stir once if at all. Anything carbonated goes in LAST and never gets stirred; every turn of the spoon costs you bubbles. Fill the glass to the rim with ice: less ice melts faster, not slower.
Glass and ice
A handled, thick-walled Irish coffee mug. Built for hot drinks: the handle protects your hand and the thick glass holds the heat. Warming it with hot water first noticeably changes the first sip.
Ingredient notes and substitutes
- Honey
- Honey will not disperse in a cold liquid; turn it into a syrup first, three parts honey to one part hot water. Dark honeys bury the spirit's aroma — a pale one is safer.
- Cinnamon stick
- A cinnamon stick is aroma, not decoration: it steeps in a hot drink, and in a cold one it is rubbed along the rim to leave its scent.
- Cold water
- Seeing it in a recipe is not a mistake: in spirit-forward drinks, measuring the dilution instead of leaving it to the ice is what makes the result repeatable.
The Story
Cretan households make it from their own tsikoudia each autumn; every family insists their spice ratio is the correct one.
Frequently asked questions
- How is a Rakomelo mixed?
- It is built in the glass and served in an Irish coffee mug.
- How strong is a Rakomelo?
- Roughly 14% ABV as served — right around a glass of wine — an aperitif or an early-evening drink.
- Can a Rakomelo be made without alcohol?
- Simply leaving the spirit out does not work — the body and the bitterness go with it. The 86 alcohol-free recipes in the catalogue are built to hit that balance from the start.
- Is a Rakomelo hard to make?
- Easy. No bar kit required — a measure, ice and a jar will do.
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Alcoholic drink recipes are intended for those aged 18 and over. Please drink responsibly.