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Photographer Platon Shilikov has combined Armenia’s nature, the unique work of honeybees and a rare recipe for making alcoholic beverages into one bottle called Apis Spiritus, a honey elixir sealed with a special code and released in limited batches.
Platon told GastroVino about the inspiration behind producing the elixir in Armenia and the development of the production method with his partners.
People are behind every good thing
Platon first came to Armenia in 2009, when he was working at an editorial office in Moscow.
“My friends and I were working on Armenia-related projects, filming monastery complexes, traveling around Armenia. This was the best way to get to know Armenian culture and people, and to make friends. I remember those times fondly. Since then, I have visited Armenia many times with family and colleagues. Of course, Armenia has changed a lot over the years, but my most genuine acquaintance with Armenia was during my very first visit.”
Image by: own archive
“People are behind every good thing, every good journey, and without them nothing would have been possible. My friends, who later became my partners in this project, as well as the Armenian hospitality that I have always encountered, inspired me to start it. The additional bonus was that within the framework of a joint project with ARARAT Brandy Company and Pernod Ricard I had the opportunity to get to know the global alcohol brands better and gain knowledge about them. This prompted the idea of creating a new Armenian alcoholic beverage brand. I wanted to create a drink that would somehow describe and combine everything that makes Armenia valuable,” says the photographer.
They have been contemplating what type of drink to produce, but it should have been done within the scope of their possibilities.
“The most extraordinary idea was the apiary owned by my friend’s father near the city of Stepanavan, Lori region, where, for three generations, they have been getting some of the purest and organic honey. This, in itself, became the deciding factor that cemented our choice of the drink.”
Platon compares the beehive to a factory, where, “without human intervention super hardworking creatures live and create one of the most unique creations in the world -honey.”
Image by: Mediamax
“Armenia is a small country, but if I’m not mistaken, it has 5 or 6 climate zones and is very rich in endemic vegetation, which makes honey one of the best in the world. And the apiary we use to make elixirs is located in an area where nothing interferes with the production of organic honey,” he notes.
3 kg of honey for one bottle of drink
“Before starting the production, we began to analyze the drinks made of honey. We bought the products of some famous brands specializing in producing strong alcoholic beverages from honey and conducted tastings. Of course, there are good honey-based products on the foreign market, but we arrived at the conclusion that in many cases the honey used for the production of distillate very often serves purely as an advertising trick and a marketing tool. We also realized that producing a drink from good honey is expensive and not very common. On the other hand, it gave us hope that what we intended to create would be unique in the market,” says Platon.
Image by: Mediamax
About 3 kg of honey is needed to produce one bottle of the elixir, which, Platon says, affects the cost of the drink.
“The honey we use to produce the elixir is ecologically clean, undergoes quality control in order to be sold in foreign markets and has the appropriate organic honey certificates. A good apiary can produce 1000-1300 kg per year, which in turn limits the production of the drink,” he says.
On their path from idea to production, Platon and his two partners were joined by another partner, David.
“David is a technologist with extensive experience in distilling hard alcohol. He has worked in specialized companies, and together we developed our unique technique to produce honey distillate without the addition of sugar or any other ingredients, based on 100% natural honey. We didn’t just look up some recipe on Internet and started making the elixir. One of the distinctive features of the drink is that it is created without sugar.
We have tried different techniques of making the wort and distilling the drink and, eventually, we got a product meeting our most rigorous requirements. The elixir undergoes a triple distillation process. This method results in a pure and smooth beverage with an expressive flavor while retaining the aroma and the most valuable natural components of honey,” says Platon.
Image by: Mediamax
Apis Spiritus currently produces honey distillate with organic eau-de-vie made from apricot, quince, and peach.
“Eau-de-vie (in Latin “aqua vita”) translates to “water of life.” It is a fruit brandy that is produced by means of fermentation and double distillation, bottled without ageing. The name Apis Spiritus is also a Latin term. Apis is Latin for “bee”, and Spiritus means magic. Platon says this name best represents the magical work of bees.”
Japanese inspiration and the secret MEGU code
In his approach to creating the drink itself, as well as the original bottle design and packaging, Platon was guided by the traditions and aesthetics of Japanese masters. “Both in terms of cuisine and drinks, there are national and fusion options. Armenia has a strong tradition of producing alcoholic beverages, which allows us to synthesize interesting new things. Therefore, we tried to synthesize the experience of the Japanese beverage production based on that tradition. The Japanese have been extremely successful in producing drinks like gin and whiskey, and they have their unique style of creating them. We were also attracted by the Japanese aesthetic, reserved and minimalist approach to bottle design. We were guided by the same approach in terms of packaging: it is simple, but at the same time luxurious in its simplicity and conciseness.”
Image by: Mediamax
On the market, Apis Spiritus elixirs are sealed by a special MEGU code. “The secret MEGU code is inspired by the Armenian words for bee and the Japanese (megumi) for grace, love. Just as bees seek flowers, so do people seek grace and love,” Platon summarizes.
Apis Spiritus drinks are currently available at The House and Noyan Tun stores in Yerevan.
Arpi Jilavyan
Photos by Emin Aristakesyan
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