Athens’ Avra Bar creates ‘immersive’ cocktail menu
Avra Bar at Four Seasons Astir Palace Hotel Athens has created a drinks list that promises ‘a journey through aroma, taste and imagination’ across four chapters.
Bar manager Nikos Tachmazis has created the menu of cocktails ‘rooted in Mediterranean flavours and shaped by the natural elements’.
The first chapter, Senses, aims to embody the spirit of spring, summer, autumn and winter through four drinks, each with a local hero ingredient: grass, berries, peppermint and charcoal.
Each of the ingredients is paired with a hand-drawn illustration with a ‘scratch and smell’ element to deepen the sensory experience.
The spring cocktail is based on distilled fresh grass, which features in a riff on an Old Fashioned alongside vodka, cucumber and mezcal.
Berry, meanwhile, aims to capture the flavours of summer through a twist on the Clover Club inspired by mastiha ice cream.
For autumn, Avra has paired a mint distillate with a cola reduction and bitters in a cocktail that sits somewhere between a Mojito and a Cuba Libre.
The final season-inspired cocktail reflects ‘winter’s smouldering fires’ through a Martini-serve featuring agave spirits, smoked bitters, raspberry and burnt rosewood.
All four cocktails are also available as non-alcoholic drinks.
The second chapter of the menu is Avra Aperitivos , which comprises Italian-style classics through a Greek lens. For instance, the Spritz combines Aperol and a fermented rhubarb solution, while the Sgroppino blends lemon and vodka, served ice cold.
The third chapter is a range of Avra Favourites, including the bar’s longtime bestseller, the Paper Plane. The bar’s version of the cocktail features Greek mountain tea-infused Bourbon.
The Dirty Martini, meanwhile, combines Assyrtiko wine and Greek olive oil-infused vodka and is finished with an aromatic local olive.
The final chapter focuses on Highballs, with five options available. Blossom is a new drink to the list, blending fresh peach with fragrant alyssum blossom.
“For us, it’s always about refinement without overcomplicating things,” said Tachmazis. “In the Avra Lab, we pay attention to every detail like temperature, dilution and balance, so the drink feels effortless when it reaches the guest.
“With the new menu, we explore seasonal Greek ingredients we love in the Lab, from citrus and olive oil to herbs and mastiha, and express them in a way that feels modern and playful.”
Tachmazis recently shared his tips for recruiting bar staff in the era of AI.
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