Like Drinking A Tree

We came across mastic liqueur — also known as “mastika” or “mastiha” — at MP Taverna, which has this cocktail they call the “Elizavet” that uses it along with mint, lime juice and tonic. It’s fantastic — tastes like a herbaceous resiny mint julep. The mastic liqueur they use is Skinos, which has made a splash lately around the liquor stores with some kind of campaign, but there are other (cheaper) mastic liqueurs that taste similar.

The resin from a Mediterranean tree, mastic has a super distinctive flavor — when in alcohol form (we have some mastic gum in the herb/spice portion of the cabinet) it’s hard to describe, but I liken it to a really delicious ash tray. I understand that’s not a great endorsement, but you have to try it to see.

After MP Taverna and then seeing Skinos at the liquor store, we bought some and replicated that cocktail, but we also came across this great recipe that has been in the pantheon of go-to cocktails for nearly two years now. It’s roughly four parts mastic liqueur to two parts gin to one part lemon juice with a, uh — can’t figure out the parts now — little simple syrup and a dash of Angostura bitters. We skip the cucumber because it’s silly to put cucumbers in stuff when you’re drinking at home.

Part of putting this all down is that I’ve relied on my browser to remember the above link — which doesn’t seem like a smart way to save recipes (but is often my main method for doing so). That’s not good enough for this drink, which is really a wonderful cocktail.

Goober got this Skinos “Little Book of Cocktails” at the liquor store, by the way — they include a version of the “Skinos Fresh” recipe above (which must be where that above one comes from) except that instead of 2:1 Skinos-gin ratio it’s one for one. I like the taste of the mastic liqueur, so I think the above recipe is a little better. We’ve also had the 2:1 ratio reversed; I don’t like it as much . . .