Occupying one of the most privileged spots within Four Seasons Astir Palace Hotel Athens, which holds a well-deserved No. 17 position in The World’s 50 Best Hotels 2025, Avra Bar has established itself as a defining destination for contemporary cosmopolitan drinking on the Athenian Riviera. A few weeks ago, the bar began serving its new cocktail menu, developed under the direction of award-winning Bar Manager Nikos Tachmazis. Presented from Avra’s striking four-sided bar, the menu unfolds across four distinct chapters, each carefully conceived to create an immersive fine-drinking experience that engages the senses.
At the heart of this new venture is Avra Lab, the hotel’s dedicated experimentation space, where the creative team examines every aspect of the production process, from temperature and dilution to the precise balance of flavours.
The journey begins with Senses, a chapter that captures Greece’s four seasons through four corresponding local ingredients: grass, berries, peppermint and charcoal. One of the most striking serves is Grass, a fresh, herbaceous expression of spring built around the structure of an Old Fashioned. It combines vodka, cucumber, distilled fresh grass and mezcal. With Berry, the team offers a summery take on the Clover Club, pairing sweet, fruit-led notes with a texture inspired by mastiha ice cream.
Representing autumn is Peppermint, an exceptionally refreshing combination of rum, jasmine infusion, a peppermint cooling note, cola reduction and cold-pressed lime. In terms of both structure and flavour, it sits somewhere between a Mojito and a Cuba Libre. The chapter draws to a fitting close with the wintry Charcoal, a bold, Martini-style serve combining blanco tequila, cold-pressed grapefruit and burnt rosewood extraction. The result is a subtly smoky drink with considerable depth. The menu also features an interactive scratch-and-sniff element, allowing guests to experience the aromas of each key ingredient before taking their first sip.
The second chapter, Avra Aperitivos, reimagines Italian classics through contemporary laboratory techniques. Particular highlights include The Spritz, which combines Aperol with an intriguing fermented rhubarb solution, and the Campari Old Fashioned, layered with notes of raspberry.
In Avra Favourites, Nikos Tachmazis revisits and refines some of the bar’s greatest hits. These include the Paper Plane, made with bourbon infused with aromatic Greek mountain tea, and the outstanding Dirty Martini. Here, Assyrtiko and Greek olive oil-infused vodka come together with savoury brine to create an impeccably balanced, saline texture.
Finally, in Avra Highballs, the Greek landscape finds expression through light, sparkling serves. The standout is the new Blossom, which brings together ripe peach and the delicate floral notes of alyssum. Particularly impressive is the fact that every serve is also available in an alcohol-free version.
This is a menu that redefines Avra as far more than a striking destination with spectacular views, or simply another hotel bar. It is a menu with the ambition and technical precision to place Avra among the world’s leading bars, and deservedly so.
Info: Avra Bar, Four Seasons Astir Palace Hotel Athens, 40 Apollonos Avenue, Vouliagmeni, Athens. Tel. +30 210 890 1000.