Mastiha Liqueur Adventure

Mom texted me from the liquor store in Vermont. They had three bottles of a mastiha liqueur brand that had become impossible to get in Colorado. Did I want one? We’d finished off ours during the “house cooling” party to send off the old apartment.

What is mastiha? After a few minutes of trying to describe the crystalized Mediterranean tree resin that generally comes from the Greek island of Chios, I’d just remove the stopper so guests could smell the unusual ingredient.

To me, the slightly woody and citrusy flavor is synonymous with joy. It reminds me of how the whole house smells after my dad bakes his famous Greek bread. Tasting the liqueur recalls the refreshing cocktail my mom created. Everything about mastiha says, “Slow down. Relax. Let’s just sit here a while.”

Basically the opposite of how I felt in Vermont when finally holding the white bottle that Mom had given us for Christmas and pondering how to get it back to Colorado.

Several companies make mastiha liqueur, but I’ve only found two. One is Skinos, the brand Mom has been able to find in Vermont periodically. I bought one bottle of it in Colorado before local distributors stopped being able to get their hands on any more.

A particularly helpful department manager at Hazel’s in Boulder was undaunted, though. He eventually found FOS Ambrosia mastiha liqueur and got some in stock. I pre-paid for a bottle, which has the bright blue evil eye talisman on the front.

Both mastiha liqueur brands I’ve tasted are good, but they do have different finishes. Finding any at all still seems to be the challenge.

Back to the bottle conundrum. Shipping liquor between states turns out to be too much of a confusing and potentially illegal pain that we decided against it. Guillaume felt confident about carefully packing the bottle in a checked bag. Upon witnessing my perennial pre-travel panic, he gallantly put the Skinos in his own suitcase.

We made it back to Colorado in one piece, and miraculously so did the bottle. To celebrate, here is my mom’s mastiha liqueur cocktail recipe. It’s refreshing and sunny and one of the first drinks Guillaume and I shared together after the move last year.

Mastiha Liqueur Cocktail

Makes 1 cocktail

1 oz. mastiha liqueur
Ice cubes
Dry lemon soda
Slice of lemon

Fill a rocks glass with ice cubes. Pour in one ounce of the mastiha liqueur.

Top off with dry lemon soda such as San Pellegrino or Gus. Add a twist of lemon and serve. Yamas!