A small white dish heaped with mastic tears, translucent drops of resin from pale gold to ivory
Asprochoma · Chios

Mastic tears, gathered by hand in Pyrgi

Mastic is the resin that lentisk trees weep only in southern Chios. We sell it in Pyrgi and online.

Buy mastic tears

What we sell

MasticWeightPrice
Large tears, to chew10 g€6
Small tears, to cook with25 g€11
Ground mastic20 g€9
Low, round mastic trees in rows on a slope in the south of Chios, each standing in a swept circle of white earth on red soil

The tree does the weeping. We only lay the white earth to catch it.

Argyro KalaitziAsprochoma, Pyrgi
Pale gold resin running in drops from small cuts in the grey bark of a mastic tree

From bark to tear

In early summer we sweep under each tree and spread a circle of white earth, the asprochoma the shop is named for. We nick the bark, and the resin runs out and dries on the white for two or three weeks. At the end of summer we gather it by hand and wash it through the autumn.

Argyro

Argyro Kalaitzi keeps 400 mastic trees on her grandparents' terraces outside Pyrgi and takes every harvest to the growers' cooperative. Her shop on the square sells its mastic by the gram and posts it across the EU.

Where to buy it

  • Pyrgi: our shop on the village square
  • Chios Town: a deli near the harbour
  • Athens: a spice shop on Evripidou Street
Wholesale

Shops, bakers and kitchens: ask for prices by the kilo. Argyro answers within a day.

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Before you order

How do I use mastic?

Chew a large tear like gum: it softens in a minute and tastes of pine. For ice cream and cakes, freeze small tears and grind them with a pinch of sugar.

How long does it keep?

For years, in a sealed jar away from heat and light. The tears turn from clear to ivory as they age, and they are still good.

Where do you post to?

Anywhere in the European Union, in three to six days. For anywhere else, write to us first and we will check the post.

Hear when the new harvest is in

One email a year, when the new harvest's tears reach the shop.

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