Mastic Tears Classic Liqueur

Mastic Tears is a mastiha liqueur made by EVA Distillers in Mytilene on the Island of Lesbos in Greece.  This unique beverage features aromas of woodsy pine, eucalyptus, mint, and lavender.  The taste is likewise fresh, woodsy, and herbal but balanced by a light sweetness.  Mastic Tears is excellent as a chilled digestive after a meal, and it's also an interesting and aromatic cocktail ingredient.

Mastiha is a traditional Greek liqueur distilled from the resin of mastic trees and lightly sweetened with sugar.  The mastic resin is harvested with a sharp tool, forming droplets that resemble tears.  Though mastic trees are common throughout Greece, only the trees that grow on the Greek island of Chios produce resin.  (Interestingly, nobody knows why the trees only produce resin on Chios. Attempts at transplanting trees and achieving this effect elsewhere have failed.)  Mastiha has been used traditionally as a medicine and cooking ingredient and was recommended by Hippocrates himself as a treatment for indigestion.