Handshake

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Handshake Persian Digestif Bitters was founded in 2023 by Shahin Khojastehzad at 52 Alder Street in Portland. His family fled Tehran after the 1979 Islamic Revolution and resettled in Maine; Khojastehzad later managed and co-owned the James Beard-nominated Novare Res Bier Café in Portland for 14 years before launching Handshake. The amaro layers 29 botanicals — Persian saffron, Ceylon black tea, sumac, fermented black lime, lemongrass, hibiscus, dark Maine maple syrup from Strawberry Hill Farms in Skowhegan, foraged spruce tips, Chaga mushrooms — telling the story of his Persian heritage and Maine upbringing. Wine Enthusiast called Handshake one of America's most exciting digestifs; it now appears in cocktails at top bars across 30 states.