Hora has a relaxed but genuine bar scene — nothing like the industrial party machinery of Mykonos, but enough variety that you won't run dry. The waterfront promenade does most of its business in the early evening, when arriving ferries deposit new visitors and everyone stops for a beer or a frappe to watch the spectacle. As the night progresses the crowd migrates: some to the bars around the Portara peninsula, which fill to capacity at sunset, and others up into the Kastro, where a handful of small bars operate inside the Venetian walls with views over the rooftops and the sea.
The Naxian approach to drinking involves volume of conversation over volume of music. Most bars keep the sound low enough to talk. Metaxa brandy, Mythos or Alfa beer, and the local kitron liqueur are the staples. Kitron — distilled from the leaves of the citron tree and tasting faintly of bergamot and honey — makes a pleasant digestif or a base for a long drink with soda. You can visit the distillery that makes it in the village of Halki.
Coffee culture is taken seriously. Greek coffee (briki-brewed, thick, served in small cups with the grounds still settling) is the morning default, but frappé — iced instant coffee shaken into a froth — is the afternoon national drink. Most cafés do both well. Sitting with a coffee for two hours while watching the port is not considered unusual behaviour.