Arak Baraka

Clear in the bottle, white the moment water meets it.

Lebanon's aniseed spirit comes off three successive distillations of sun-grown grapes, infused with green anise seed, then rests in clay jars until it rounds out. Poured neat it runs transparent. Add spring water and ice and it turns opal. It goes to the table with hummus, moutabbal, stuffed vine leaves and kibbeh, and the meal it escorts runs as long as it likes.

Dry cedar anchors it. Sweetness comes up underneath from a vegetal leather accord and rum extract, and lavender and peppermint cut cold over that. Anise arrives sharp as the icy first glass, with ginger close behind.

Ideo Parfumeurs was established in Lebanon in 2016 to make fragrances that were elegant and reachable at once, built out of memory and given a daring turn. It found its audience quickly, with wide press and a presence in some of Europe's most prestigious stores. Then the explosion at the Beirut port stopped the house, and its activity stayed frozen for about three years.

It opened again in 2025 under new owners in France, with a new visual identity, new noses and an emphasis on its Lebanese heritage. The Delicacies came out of that, drawn from what Lebanon eats and pours, composed by French noses and made in France. What drew the house to Beirut was the melting pot and the contradictions in it. Ancient craft traditions run through a modern, tech-friendly city, and strict social rules hold alongside a sense of exhilarating freedom.