OUZO in the morning

A clue in this past Saturday’s Newsday crossword, “Spirit in Cyprus,” made me remember a moment from my grad-student days. I went to Jimmy the barber for a haircut one spring morning. During my haircut Jimmy took out a bottle of ouzo and poured cups for all assembled. I had never tasted ouzo. Sure, why not? When in Rome, &c. I remember calling Elaine afterwards (she was at work in downtown Boston) and laughing my way through the story of my haircut. I was at least slightly smashed.

It was only after seeing Saturday’s clue that I looked into ouzo more closely. Wikipedia: “The final ABV is usually between 37.5 and 50 percent; the minimum allowed is 37.5 percent.” In other words, ouzo runs between 75 and 100 proof. No wonder I was laughing.

[Why the all-caps OUZO? Because it was a crossword answer. “When in Rome”: or Greece. Jimmy was from Greece. And by the way, it was a good haircut.]