When alcohol turns milky

[1]

Ever wondered how your absinthe, ouzo (Greece) or raki (Turkey) turned milky white just with the addition of water?

“People normally associate adding water to a coloured drink with the drink losing its colour. But anise-flavoured drinks often undergo what is scientifically called spontaneous emulsification. We bartenders call it the Ouzo Effect or the Louche (milky) Effect. Drinks like pastis (France) and even some araks undergo the same process,” says Aneesh Tiwari, bartender, Bay Leaf.
Alcohol dissolves oil molecules into itself when the alcohol percentage in the mixture is above 50. When it is below 50 per cent the oil molecules are released from their dissolved state and become tiny molecules suspended in the alcohol-water mixture.
These oil molecules reflect light making them appear cloudy, and giving the drink the “louche” effect.
Tiwari adds that there is more to just diluting when one adds water to the anise drinks. “As cool water drizzles into the glass, it gently liberates the essential oils of the herbs from which absinthe and other such drinks are made. And in absinthe’s case, these essences, it is thought, are the secret behind the perplexing effects experienced by the drinker,” Tiwari adds.