Cyprus has one spirit that matters, and it’s unusually well defined: zivania. It’s a pomace brandy, but made by a method that sets it apart from tsipouro or grappa — the marc of Mavro and Xynisteri grapes is combined with locally produced dry wine before distillation, rather than being distilled alone. That wine component gives it a cleaner, less oily character than most pomace spirits.

Zivania has been distilled on the island since roughly the 14th century and holds its own protected designation, secured around EU accession in 2004. The word derives from zivana, the Cypriot term for the pressed marc itself.

Rakia Today

The standard clear form is colourless, typically around 45%, clean and dry with a faintly grapey character and a sharp finish — traditionally drunk very cold alongside meze, and historically used as a household antiseptic, a chest rub and a remedy for more or less everything. That medicinal reputation isn’t pure folklore; it really was the household disinfectant.

A small but growing premium category of oak-aged zivania, amber and softer, comes from several of the larger houses, while home and small-village distillation continues in the Troodos wine villages — the usual pattern in this region of the best and worst examples both being homemade.

Native Spirits

Grape-Based

• Zivania [A] — The standard clear form — colourless, typically 45%, clean and dry with a faintly grapey character and a sharp finish. Traditionally drunk very cold with meze, and historically used as a household antiseptic.
• Aged Zivania [B] — Oak-matured, amber and softer than clear zivania, produced by several of the larger houses — a small but growing premium category.

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• Flavoured Zivania [B–C] — Cinnamon is the traditional infusion; carob, herbs and honey also appear. Mostly domestic and tourist-market.
• Village Zivania [D] — Home and small-village distillation continues, particularly in the Troodos wine villages — where the best and worst examples both live.

Not rakia: Cyprus also produces Commandaria — a fortified sweet wine, not a rakia-family spirit — and the brandy sour, effectively the national cocktail for visitors, made with a wine-distillate brandy rather than zivania.

Specialty Spirits

Cyprus’s EU-shared right to make ouzo, its one distinctive orange liqueur, and a brandy made deliberately light for a single national cocktail.

Anise

• Ouzo (Cyprus) [B] — Cyprus makes its own ouzo under the same EU rules that allow Greece — similar in style to mainland Greek ouzo, though production is almost entirely for domestic consumption.

Liqueurs

• Filfar [B] — A Cypriot orange liqueur from the Famagusta district, made from bitter orange peel with a herb and spice infusion, commercially made since the mid-20th century. Amber, sweet and spiced — the island’s one distinctive liqueur and a fixture of Cypriot duty-free.

Brandy

• Cyprus Brandy [A] — Produced by the island’s four established houses — KEO, ETKO, LOEL and SODAP — in a deliberately light, relatively neutral style, made specifically to serve as the base for the Brandy Sour.

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• Brandy Sour (national cocktail, not a bottling) — Cyprus brandy, lemon squash, a few dashes of bitters and soda over ice. The widely repeated origin story places its invention at the Forest Park Hotel in Platres in the 1930s, reportedly for King Farouk of Egypt — tradition rather than documented history, but genuinely the national drink, and the reason Cypriot brandy is made in such a light style.

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