Arak is the most refined version of the anise spirits range 
                    including, raki, ouzo, pastis, absinthe, pernod, ricard….

 Why arak is more refined than Raki, Ouzo, Pastis, Pernod?
We have at least three justifications:
1- You need high quality ingredients to produce refined meals, it is the same with arak: We don't use mediocre or grain alcohol we use a high quality brandy made exclusively out of fermented grapes.
2- You can hardly cook refined meals in microwave or in cooker pressure. For us a Tete de Cygne alambic or Alambic Charentais are sprit's pressure cookers and a continuous distillation still is a microwave. At Massaya we use the Moorish lid still that is indeed more labor intensive but guarantees at best the fragrances, the aromas and the flavor of the grape alcohol
3- Dried, frozen or processed ingredients cannot properly replace fresh ones: we use exclusively fresh green aniseed from a neighboring country.

Do you still prefer Raki, ouzo, absinthe or raki?
If you are just used to the taste, that is fine for us, but if you genuinely believe that pernod, raki, ouzo, absinthe… are more refined than arak el Massaya please email me; Ramzi Ghosn