When Elfi Fabritius, Aurélie Panhelleux and Julien Lopez opened CopperBay in 2014, they surprised others in the French cocktail scene with their concept: “cocktails, pastis and food.” It’s the second word that stuck out. Pastis is such a deeply traditional French apéritif—one that isn’t linked with France’s fascination with American-style cocktails that took hold in the late 19th century—that it was rare to see the two sharing space on menus. At CopperBay, however, traditional pastis, along with its orgeat-laced cousin, the Mauresque, is just as important as the bar’s craft cocktails.
Pastis is a liqueur made from anise, licorice and fennel that was originally introduced as an absinthe substitute in the early 20th century. It remains popular in its native Marseille and in southern France more broadly, as well as throughout the country. Fabritius and Lopez are both from the south of France and live in Marseille, where one of their three CopperBay bars is located. While other classic apéritifs like Kir Royale or Picon Bière have fallen out of fashion locally, pastis has maintained popularity and affordability, says Fabritius. “Everyone is drinking pastis,” she says. “Every class of people.”
Traditionally, pastis is served on ice in a tall glass, lengthened with water, sometimes with various syrups to further flavor the pairing. The Perroquet (“parrot”) combines the duo with mint syrup, the Tomate (“tomato”) calls for grenadine and Mauresque (“Moorish”) is prepared with orgeat. The latter—whose name is a nod to orgeat’s almonds and orange flower water, which are common flavors in North African cuisine—is the most popular and a favorite of CopperBay’s owners. But “the regular pastis drinker doesn’t usually like [the] Mauresque,” says Fabritius, “because it’s too sweet, you know?”
The CopperBay team finds Marseille’s Distillerie de la Plaine to be one of the finest makers of pastis in the country, and the bar proudly features the distillery’s products in its pastis program. What, Fabritius thought, if this special producer could create a pastis that captured the flavors of the Mauresque without all the sugar? Thus, the bar’s bespoke pastis, which they call Mauresco, was born. This special bottling is produced with the classic pastis botanicals—star anise, licorice and fennel—plus tonka bean and orange blossom, which evoke the flavors of orgeat. At the bar, it’s served traditionally, with two ice cubes and diluted with water, and in some cocktails, such as the eponymously named Mauresco, which combines the liqueur with gin, lemon, orgeat, a citron-dill cordial and egg white.
Not only does CopperBay serve the Mauresco pastis to its patrons across three locations, it also sells bottles to go—and it’s probably made its way into a few suitcases. Fabritius says that the Mauresco acts as a sort of emissary for both CopperBay and for French apéritif culture more broadly. “When we have bartenders coming from abroad, especially in Paris, we are always offering them a little bit of Mauresque,” she says. For her, there’s a particular pride in serving an innovative take on this spirit from the south of France, because, as she puts it, “pastis runs through the veins of everyone living in Marseille.”
