What we’re drinking: Six new and unique amari and liqueurs from Atheras Spirits, a New York-based, independently-owned craft drinks brand co-founded by Ektoras Binikos and Simon Jutras
Where they’re from: Atheras is a micro-distillery located inside Bitter Monk, a cocktail bar in Brooklyn’s Industry City. The liqueurs are crafted from more than 300 wild-foraged botanicals, sourced with help from ethnobotanist Elizabeth Kontou and meadow specialist Tama Matsuoka Won.
Why we’re drinking these: It’s rare (and cool!) to find a micro-distillery inside of a cocktail bar. And the flavors that the Atheras Spirits team has come up with for their initial six-bottle launch seem poised to transform your at-home cocktails.
“I’m proud to say I’m a second-generation distiller,” says Binikos, who showed me around the bar and distillery in late December. “My roots lie in Ikaria, a beautiful island in the Aegean archipelago of Greece [and home of the Atheras mountain range] where my parents practiced distilling as a passionate hobby. My father experimented with local herbs, incorporating flavors like sage, pennyroyal, chamomile and ditanny, infusing them into high-proof grappa and creating a range of exquisite herbal elixirs. And my mother crafted liqueurs such as nocino, sour cherry, myrto and limoncello using the same base ingredients.”
The Homemade Bar: Go Deep on Bitterness and Botanicals With Amaro
There are endless possibilities when making this bittersweet liqueurAfter working as a bartender, Binikos saw some flavor gaps in the drinks world that he wanted to explore. And, as a visual artist, the Atheras founder wanted to create what he calls “liquid art,” taking inspiration from not only tastes and scents from his childhood but also art history, philosophy, literature and music.
Originally launched as a way to pass the time and make a bit of money during Covid when his just-opened Harlem bar Sugar Monk wasn’t operating full-time, the early versions of what would become the Atheras lineup were a hit. Eventually, Binikos’s team found a space in Brooklyn’s artsy Industry City warehouses to build a second bar (Bitter Monk) and turn Atheras into a full-time endeavor.
While Atheras certainly reflects the founder’s Greek upbringing, the liqueurs feature a wider, global influence. “We primarily source our ingredients through foragers, collaborating with two key partners: one based in New Jersey and the other on the island of Ikaria,” Binikos says. “While they supply most of our ingredients, we also tap into various local sources from different countries and continents.”
Given Binikos’s art background, it’s no surprise that the Atheras bottles are visually-pleasing as well. They are custom-made pharmaceutical bottles sourced from Canada, with a design that blends alchemical motifs with vintage botanical and floral illustrations.
Admittedly, these are adventurous spirits that might be difficult to figure out for the novice home bartender. But Binikos suggests a simple use case. “Some you sip, but most are excellent modifiers for cocktails, offering a refreshing twist on classic recipes,” he says. (Speaking of recipes, the Atheras site thankfully offers a few cocktail ideas.)
How they taste: All of the Atheras Spirits releases are 38% ABV and purposely low in sugar. The maceration process for each bottle occurs in stainless steel vessels, utilizing a high-proof corn-based alcohol sourced from upstate New York.
- Akhenaten Amaro: Inspired by the Egyptian pharaoh and opera by Philip Glass, this amaro blends more than 40 botanicals, including cumin, coriander, peppermint, cloves, basil, chamomile, cedar, eucalyptus and myrrh. Both on the nose and the palate, it reminds me of walking around the market/souks in the Middle East. Sip neat or use in a Black Manhattan.
- Palatine Amaro: This amaro offers hints of smoky rhubarb, angelica, coriander, rosehip, chamomile, bay leaf, lemon verbena and mint. It’s good to sip neat or mixed in a sour or Paper Plane riff.
- Sykophilos: This spirit is crafted from fig leaves that were foraged in Greece and Spain and laid out in the sun for a few weeks to caramelize. It’s grassy and full of of coconut, vanilla, mint/eucalpytus and pine notes.
- Bergamot: Crafted from Calabrian bergamot oranges, this works as a nice, tangy substitute for orange-based liqueurs like Italicus, Cointreau and Grand Mariner.
- Hierba Luisa: If you like lemongrass, this is a next-level experience, with additional hints of honey and lavender. It’s a great way to modify a Daiquiri.
- Cardoon: I wasn’t thrilled to try something artichoke-based, but this digestif surprised me with hints of toasted bread, vanilla, lavender and just a hint of bitterness.
Fun fact: The leftover botanicals from the distillation process are transformed into bitters, marmalades and other small-batch creations.
Where to buy: You can buy Atheras Spirits for $50 to $80 per bottle on their official website.
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