Mastering the taste of Cyprus

Bartending with no experience can be daunting, but on a sunny Saturday afternoon in the centre of old Larnaca, first-time participants skillfully mixed their way through three different recipes reflecting the island at Sunmoon Hospitality’s two-hour local spirits workshop.

“It’s all about flavours – it’s about the experience, and not so much about getting drunk,” founder of Sunmoon Hospitality and workshop leader Panayiotis Savva told Cyprus Mail. “You have to know what you’re doing. You have to be creative, but with knowledge.”

Savva, who has been running beginner to advanced-level cocktail workshops for the past seven years, guided participants in making a brandy sour – THE “cocktail of Cyprus” – as well as a commandaria and wine-based cocktail, with opportunities for personalisation. He also introduced the basic tools of cocktail making, types of glasses, and the history of spirits across the globe.

“You get the opportunity to ask questions. You get a lot of interesting theory. You get cocktails,” workshop participant Valentina Pakhomova said. “It was just an incredible experience, and I’m so glad I had an opportunity to be here.”

The workshop kicked off with a tutorial on how to make the brandy sour, combining Cypriot brandy, lemon squash, soda and a few dashes of angostura bitter.

According to legend, the brandy sour was invented in the early 1950s for King Farouk of Egypt when visiting the Troodos mountains as a means to disguise his inclination for alcohol as a Muslim. A cocktail made for a king, the drink quickly gained popularity across Cyprus and has become a staple of the island’s bar menu.

But, Savva said, “if I recreate [the original recipe] today, it will not taste the same it used to taste back in those times, because the main spirit has changed.” Despite changes in alcohol content and taste, Savva emphasised to participants that an element that remains integral and timeless to cocktail making is precision.

“It’s like making a dessert,” he said. “If you are making a dessert, you need to be accurate with your recipe. If you are making cocktails you have to be accurate as well, because you need to have balanced drinks.”  

As a foreigner unfamiliar with Cypriot spirits, the workshop also provided a deep dive into the history of local drinks like zivania. Hearing about its origins and cultural significance gave me a new appreciation for the role these beverages play in everyday Cypriot life and culture.

Tucked just off the main road in downtown Larnaca, Sunmoon’s venue offered a quiet intimacy, shielded from the bustle of the town. Natural sunlight filtered through gently, balanced by pockets of shade that made the space feel cool and comfortable. Shelves lined with old music records and DVDs gave the room a sense of lived-in character; it was the kind of setting that invites you to slow down and pay attention, a perfect space to enjoy the cocktails we had created.

Savva provided clear, expert guidance, although we participants were ultimately in charge of mixing the drinks ourselves. That hands-on approach transformed the session into an exercise in true experiential learning – messy, fun and deeply satisfying.

In the latter half of the workshop, Savva asked each participant what their favourite cocktail was, then crafted personalised recipes that mimicked the taste of each person’s selected drink. 

For Pakhomova, this was the best part of the workshop. “It was personalised – you didn’t just get some pre-scheduled, boring stuff,” she said.

Kate Verezhinskaia, another workshop participant, said the ability to personalise drinks “made the experience much more fun. My favourite cocktail was the one that was based on my preferences,” she added. For her personalised cocktail, Verezhinskaia mixed a rosé garnished with a slice of dried orange.

At the end of the session, participants received a handbook to record the cocktail recipes they had learned, making it easier to replicate the drinks at home. During the demonstration, Savva also offered frequent substitutions for certain liquors, suggesting more readily available or affordable alternatives to ensure participants could recreate the cocktails with what they had on hand.

“I thought that it would be just a fun thing to do, but it turned out to be much more than that,” Pakhomova said.

Cocktail workshops hosted by Sunmoon Hospitality run from 1.5 hours to 3 hours, ranging from €30 to €60 per person. Workshops can be booked by calling 24 400921 or emailing sunmooncy2020@gmail.com. This experience was booked with the assistance of Larnaca Tourism Board and their new digital platform, which can be accessed at larnakaregion.triggle.app/