Welcome to ‘Voices,’ where we sit down with the world’s top hoteliers, explorers, and luxury lifestyle insiders to uncover what’s new, next, and not to be missed in food, drink & travel. Last time, we took you inside the FS Chicago with their GM, did you catch that one?
Looking for a refreshing cocktail to celebrate the arrival of spring? We had the pleasure of learning about KLEOS Mastiha Spirit from its CEO and founder Effie Panagopoulos. She is the first Greek woman (and second Boston woman to found a liquor brand. Panagopoulos shared the spirit’s genesis along with her Boston ties.
Tell us about the KLEOS brand
KLEOS Mastiha Spirit is better for you, a Greek botanical spirit made from an ancient superfood called mastiha (mas-tee-hah, a PDO that grows only on the island of Chios).PDO means protected Designation of Origin——mastiha is a sap from the Skinos tree that grows only in 24 villages in the southern part of the Greek island of Chios.
Mastiha also kills h. Pylori is the bacteria that causes peptic ulcers, gastric cancer, and acid reflux. Healing properties for the stomach and digestive system are retained in liquor form, making it the ultimate aperitif/digestif.
More importantly, it’s delicious, fabulous in cocktails (being called “bartender’s olive oil” in the press), and is low cal, low abv, and low sugar. Tasting notes are cucumber, mint, lemongrass, herbal sweet tea, and then I’ve gotten parsnips, turnips, celery, and dill. People often say it smells like dirty carrots, just pulled out of the ground. It’s grassy, green, and vegetal, but a touch sweet. I say it’s like Hendrick’s gin, Chartreuse, and St. Germain had a baby.
What makes KLEOS unique?
Besides the fact that it comes from one island on the entire planet, Mastiha is the only PDO in the liqueur category, and KLEOS has unparalleled versatility in cocktails. It mixes 1:1 with every base spirit on the backbar with my favorite go -tos being gin, tequila, and mezcal. Relative to the mastiha category, KLEOS is the only double-distilled, small batch, low in sugar mastiha on the market.
How did you end up in the spirit business?
I majored in French in college, and I taught high school Spanish at my first job out of college. I had been on an academic scholarship at BC, and most of my friends were working at BIG 6 firms making $50k the first year out (a lot for 1999). I was making under $30k as a teacher, so I moonlighted doing tastings and events for a ton of brands—most notably MIDORI, Chambord, Stoli, Kahlua, Maker’s Mark, Jaeger, Grey Goose vodka, Hennessy. I drove a green VW bug around Boston doing events for MIDORI—it was such a blast, and I made more on the weekends than I did the full week teaching high school, and also at that age in my 20’s nightlife and hospitality were second nature to me. I was a promoter at two spots in the alley—Pravda and La Boom for owner Kevin Troy. What I loved about the liquor industry besides the social aspect was not working 9 to 5. I tried for years to get market manager sales roles and finally, after moving to the West Coast in 2004 I got my first job with Bacardi in San Francisco. I haven’t left the business since then.
How does it feel to be the first Greek woman (and second from Boston) to found a liquor brand?
I’m proud that KLEOS exists seven years after launching off Mom’s couch in Boston. There is a bit of backlash today (after what I feel was slight tokenism of investing in woman-owned and minority-owned during and after Covid) around talking about being woman-owned. At this point, my brand exists because the product speaks for itself. That said, I feel a duty to “MAKE IT”—and that means an exit. There are too many women-owned brands that have failed—not because they didn’t have a great product—but because we’re not getting funded. I’m determined to become a success story so I can pay it forward and make it easier for woman-owned brands in the future.
Where did you grow up in Boston?
I grew up in Roslindale and after 10th grade West Roxbury. They called us Rozzie Rats.
How did your background growing up in Boston and attending Boston Latin School and BC influence your career path?
The career path happened organically, but I never set out to be a spirits brand owner—I wanted to be a UN ambassador. My Dad was in hospitality—a GM of a fine-dining Italian restaurant called Franco’s in Norwood. He was the most charming guy in the room and beloved at his restaurant by their regulars and his staff. So I was exposed to the business from a young age.
Boston Latin School—I can’t say enough good things about my alma mater. It was a second tough Greek mother. The curriculum was rigorous—I had more homework then than in college—and my love of foreign languages was fostered there. I studied Latin for 6 years and ancient Greek for two. The name KLEOS is an ancient Greek word from the Illiad—which I translated from ancient Greek to English in High school. How many people can say that?! During college, I was the second girl to work as a bartender at Mary Anne’s—aka Scary Annes aka “the worst bar in Boston” according to the Boston Globe review they so proudly hung—so I guess you could say the ability to hang with the boys club was cultivated there. Then after college, my cousin owned the famous sports bar—The Rack, where all the Pats, Sox, and Celtics would go on off nights. I executed countless events for liquor brands there and got to meet a ton of the Boston athletes that I became friends with, and then brought to the clubs I was promoting. Straight up—it was FUN. Frankly, I wish I had the 24-year-old energy now—had I owned my brand back then, I guarantee I would have blown it up faster than today!
How does your Greek background influence the brand?
I think it goes without saying—the brand couldn’t be more Greek. It’s a Greek PDO, with 3,000 years of history never been mass-marketed outside of Greece. The name is Greek. The evil eye in the logo is Greek. The bottle shape is meant to evoke Greek architecture—a Doric Greek column. It’s also better for you, and Greece and the Mediterranean diet are associated with longevity.
What are your plans for the future?
Exit the brand to a strategic and help them take it global. Invest in other women. And then continue my work in educational nonprofits or even create one. I volunteer now as a Mentor for Minds Matter and do college prep for first-generation high school kids. It is beyond rewarding.