A New Line Of American Aperitivos For The Modern Drinker

Renowned in Europe as a pre-dinner ritual, Americans commonly misinterpret aperitivo culture for ‘happy hour’—Cindy and Kyle Pressman are hoping to change this with atōst—a new line of American Aperitivos.

“We’re inspired by the history and tradition of the European aperitif, but knew it needed an American twist for the modern drinker,” says Cindy Pressman, CEO and founder of atōst.

Born out of the pandemic, the Pressmans established a direct-to-consumer model with the launch of their American Aperitivos in three flavors on November 1, 2020. A month later and they’re releasing a fourth flavor, Woods, which they explain should be consumed as a light whiskey. 

“It is smooth with beautiful notes of vanilla, oak, and caramel but doesn’t have that burn going down,” says Cindy.

Following the theme of the founding flavors, Woods connects to a plant’s life cycle—the others being Roots, Bloom and Citrus. Pressman explains, “Roots celebrates the beginning of a plant’s life, so it’s earthy and vivacious. Bloom represents a plant growing flowers so it’s floral, and Citrus celebrates the fruit of the plant.” 

For Woods this meant a celebration similar to that of Roots with the bark-like texture of the stem of branches highlighted by aging the spirit in oak whiskey barrels.

Typically, an aperitivo is herbal and bitter, with both Campari and Aperol as iconic aperitifs across Europe. It is consumed before a meal to prepare the digestive system, therefore, habitually sipped slowly. However, in order to lure an audience unfamiliar with aperitivo culture, the husband-wife duo knew they needed to increase the use of familiar ingredients and decrease some of the polarizing elements.

“We enjoyed the aperitivo lifestyle but didn’t enjoy the liquid itself, so we pulled back on the bitterness to put forward trendy flavors like ginger, rose, citrus and hibiscus,” says Kyle, who adds that atōst can be served on the rocks, with a splash of sparkling water, or added to your favorite cocktail. 

The launch of Woods allows the flavors to portray both Cindy and Kyle’s drinking habits as Cindy tends to sip white wine socially, while Kyle reaches for the whiskey. They recall when quarantine hit and they were opening a bottle of wine, “We were wasting it or drinking more than we wanted to.” This was the original inspiration behind atōst. 

“America has shifted drinking into something that’s not looked at as positive so we wanted to bring tradition and history back as to why we started drinking alcohol,” says Cindy.

“We fell in love with the idea of the way Europeans drink, to be social with friends,” adds Kyle. 

Enlisting help in their current town of Golden, Colorado, Kyle and Cindy tapped Crooked Stave owner and brewmaster Chad Yakobson, for their first flavor launch, while for Woods, atōst used bourbon barrels from Laws Whiskey House. 

“Kyle and Cindy are building something unique through differentiation and creativity in a space rarely explored,” says Yakobson about his motivation to collaborate on atōst. “While aperitifs are mainly recognized in the U.S. through various circles for their use in cocktails, they truly are amazing on their own.” 

As for the base, Cindy and Kyle resorted to their hometown roots of California, with the use of chardonnay grapes from Sonoma, saying, “We like to blend the luxury of a fine wine with the quality of a craft spirit.” 

They add, “Supporting local is at the center of our mission. Local to us is both our immediate community in Golden and Colorado, but also places we grew up in, traveled to, or that simply showcase America.” 

Woods launches today, then what’s next for the duo? Though their original plans of a tasting counter and lounge were paused due to Covid-19, the Pressmans are focusing on their DTC model and expanding throughout the nation with consistent flavor releases—next up is a limited release of Bloom in the first quarter of 2021.

Find out where to purchase atōst and stay up to date on the latest by visiting www.atost.com.