Same Mastiha Spirit, Two Very Different Answers from Two Taipei Bars
Greek brand Skinos Mastiha Spirit teams up with Testing Room and The Public House — one deconstructs the spirit like a perfume, reworking classic cocktails; the other grafts Chios terroir onto Taiwanese tea and fruit. Eight limited-edition cocktails, all August long.
The same spirit can go one of two ways: down the path of a perfume counter, or straight into a wet market. That's exactly what Greek brand Skinos Mastiha Spirit is doing in Taipei this time — taking "Mastiha," the pine, herbal, mineral-tinged spirit distilled from mastic resin grown on the island of Chios, and handing it off to two bars with wildly different sensibilities. Each has crafted four original cocktails, eight in total, under the campaign "From Chios to Taipei."
Running from August 1 to August 31, 2026, the campaign unfolds simultaneously at Testing Room and The Public House — marking Skinos' first-ever limited-time collaboration in Taiwan.
Testing Room: Breaking a Cocktail into Top, Heart, and Base Notes
Testing Room is known for flavor experimentation, and this time they've taken the "top note, heart note, base note" structure of perfumery and applied it directly to cocktail logic. "Skinos Rickey" builds on the classic Rickey, with fresh lime juice and soda highlighting the spirit's pine and mineral edge; "Garrigue," named after Mediterranean scrubland, layers sherry, rosemary, and pink peppercorn into something that evokes sunlight and sea breeze; "Aegean Sillage" opens with bittersweet grapefruit, moves into guava fruitiness and a touch of creaminess, and finishes on the deep earthiness of vetiver; "Chios Tini," a riff on the Martini and the Francis Albert, weaves together gin, rye whiskey, and jasmine tea for a spicy yet grounded, forest-like character. Drink all four in sequence and you've essentially traced a perfume's journey from first spray to final dry-down.
The Public House: Grafting Chios onto Taiwan's Flavor Memory
The Public House takes the opposite route entirely, folding Skinos directly into ingredients familiar to Taiwanese palates: Wenshan baozhong tea, red oolong, pineapple, red bean, watermelon, and Kyoho grapes, each collided against Mediterranean herbs. "Layover Martini" starts with a smoked cherry tomato water base, layering a clean, savory finish over a gin-and-Skinos foundation; "Aegean Highball" infuses Skinos with baozhong tea first, then pairs it with shochu and watermelon soda for something light yet mineral-forward; "Glaze Gimlet" folds red oolong, clarified pineapple juice, and Fino sherry into a crystal-clear body, evoking memories of Taiwanese desserts; and "Murex Old Fashioned," named after the ancient Mediterranean purple dye, stacks dark rum, cacao-husk-distilled white rum, and Kyoho grapes for a mature fruitiness and cocoa finish — the richest and heaviest of the four.
Throughout the campaign, ordering all four designated Skinos cocktails at the same table earns you a complimentary 50ml bottle of Skinos Mastiha Spirit — limited to 25 bottles per venue, while supplies last. Same spirit, two interpretations — worth trying both to compare.
