• Category: brandy
• Alcohol: 30%
• Origin: Egypt
• Manufacturer: United Distillery Group
• Bought at: Liquor store, Cairo, Egypt

This small bottle contains some kind of brandy, or distilled wine. The alcohol level is lower than regular brandies and it also tastes quite weak, similar to watered down whisky. Despite of this it tastes nice and smooth; it gives a pleasant finish. The most interesting of this drink is the bottle: for some reason the bottle says brand (in English and Arabic) instead of brandy. Also it has a line of text in Greek on it, which appears to mean “old distillation”. 7/10.

• Category: rum
• Alcohol: 32%
• Origin: Egypt
• Manufacturer: United Distillery Group
• Bought at: Liquor store, Cairo, Egypt

Rum Zottos is not as strong as proper rum, and indeed it does taste rather weak, as if it is diluted. Nevertheless it does smell rather spicy, and after a few sips it gets (probably not surprisingly) better. The taste is pretty nice and pleasant, albeit rather shallow. It is nice in cola as well. The label is also very interesting with an image of an exotic looking half naked Caribbean male model. I have also seen a label with a female model. The rum on both bottles is presumably the same. It gets 7/10.

• Category: arak (on the basis of raisins)
• Alcohol: 35%
• Origin: Egypt
• Manufacturer: Salt and Pepper
• Bought at: Liquor store, Cairo, Egypt

Zibib is an Egyptian aniseed flavoured drink. Contrary to arak, which is made of pomace, zibib is made of raisins. The aroma is not as strong as arak, and it contains less alcohol (35% in zibib, and 53% in arak), but the quality is rather good compared to the other Egyptian spirits I tried. Nevertheless it is a few steps below proper arak. Last summer in Yemen, I became very fluent in Arabic after some of these drinks with a fellow student. Still it does not get more than 6/10.

• Category: arak (on the basis of dates)
• Alcohol: unknown, presumably around 33%
• Origin: Egypt
• Manufacturer: Meliniotis
• Bought at: Liquor store, Cairo, Egypt

This is a bottle of Egyptian arak on the basis of fermented dates, just as the Iraqi brands of arak. The bottle says “Arak, white drink. Bottled by Meliniotis, Made in Egypt” and that is it. The seller in Cairo told me the alcohol percentage is about 40%, but it does not taste that strong; I believe it is between 30% and 35%. It is probably sweetened. If diluted it becomes rather clear, and watery, unlike grape arak which turns milky white. Undiluted it is therefore better. Rather weak aniseed aroma, compared to proper arak. Unfortunately the taste is pretty artificial and chemical, and not very nice. But the bottle is cool and it gives a nice logo for a website on Arabic Liquor. 5/10.

• Category: Vodka
• Alcohol: unknown, presumably about 35%
• Origin: Egypt
• Manufacturer: Salt and Pepper
• Bought at: Liquor store, Cairo, Egypt

I bought this small bottle (250cc) last summer in Egypt. The bottle is very crooked, there are bubbles inside the glass, and the brand name is obviously taken illegally from the well-known Finnish vodka brand. Moreover the content is disgusting and tastes very chemically. Travel guides warn for this stuff because of the risk of methanol poisoning. Fortunately I didn’t turn blind. The only way to drink it is to mix it with a lot of cola. 2/10.