Yianni Barakos has been working for more than a year to bring people the finest liquor. He and his father, George, are renovating a building on East Water Street in Gettysburg to transform it into their business, Mason Dixon Distillery.
Just under 10,000 square feet, the space is going to become a place for socializing, indulging in food and sipping on cocktails made with Barakos’ distilled liquors: rum, gin, vodka and whiskey. Barakos is planning Mason Dixon Distillery’s opening sometime this spring.
Read on to find out what he had to say about his new endeavor:
PA Eats: When did you come up with the idea to own and run a distillery?
Yianni: I’ve been planning this for about three-and-a-half to four years now. The idea came about to actually open a legal distillery when Pennsylvania started to create a craft distilling license and legislation.
The backbone for it started when I was 11 years old and I built my first still. It came about because I’ve always been a tinkerer. When I was 11 years old I was asking my grandfather—I’m second generation born here; my family immigrated from Greece—about being a young boy growing up in Greece and what he did. He went from village to village to repair items. One village had a still and it was his job to maintain and keep it functional. I heard about that and got him to draw me a sketch on a napkin and I went home and made my first still.
Why did you choose Gettysburg for your distillery?
I like it here. My grandparents are from Hanover and I spent a lot of time growing up with them. We spent a lot of time driving to Gettysburg when I was a young child. After college, one of my best friends from high school moved out here so I was coming out here a lot and got to know a lot of people. Everybody I’ve met so far has been friendly and supportive and it’s a nice small town that has a lot to offer. So, I like that we’re going to become a part of that.
What will Mason Dixon Distillery offer to its customers?
As far as what will actually be for sale, we will offer small dishes; [customers] can purchase cocktails made from our own liquor; they’ll be able to purchase guided tours; we’ll have a limited amount of merchandise as well. You can also buy a bottle onsite and take it home for offsite consumption.
In terms of specific liquors we’re going to make, we’re definitely going to be starting off with a clear or non-aged rum. We’re going to focus on clear liquors. We’re going to have a gin, a vodka; then we will get into brown spirits. We’ll have some aged rum and a variety of whiskeys – a rye whiskey, a bourbon; we’ll play around with some non-traditional grains to make whiskey as well.
Where do you get your ingredients?
All of our raw grains, non-malted grains, are coming from five to 10 miles away. The majority of what we have we actually grew ourselves on the battlefield. The rest we purchase from local farmers.
Why is it so important to be local?
We’re trying to establish a strong sense of socialization and a strong sense of community. It makes sense to buy from your neighbors because you’re contributing to the local economy. Agriculture is quite large in Adams County, so it doesn’t make sense to go anywhere else.
Why the Mason Dixon Distillery name?
It makes sense for where we are. I want to be strong within the local region and the name Mason Dixon—if you were anywhere up and down the east coast and you didn’t know exactly where we were…if you had to point at a map your finger would probably land within 30 miles of where we are. It’s a good, strong regional name. We played around with quite a few names but it seemed the best fit.
What is your goal for Mason Dixon Distillery?
The goal is to provide good food, good drinks and a fun, social atmosphere. I’ve said for a long time that if someone comes in and visits us, maybe a couple weeks later they don’t remember what they had to drink or eat, but I want them to remember that they had a good time.
We’re setting up the front of the house to try to be as social as possible. My father had a ‘50s-style diner and I remember the diner counter. I want the camaraderie of that. I want this to be accessible for everyone. When people come in, I want them to talk to one another.
We’re going to do things up front to steer people to socialize. We’re going to have a community table, music playing, no TVs and no free public Wi-Fi. I want people to put their phones down and talk to somebody around them. Everybody has a story to tell and I think with just a little gentle push most people want to talk to other people and hear their story and want to tell their own story. We provide the atmosphere to remove the ability for someone to sit there and stare at the TV. You almost have to fill that void with conversation. I want to do everything I can to provide that spark to jumpstart the conversation.
Can you give us a hint of your background in the distillery business?
I apprenticed at Smooth Ambler Spirits in West Virginia. Once I heard new laws were being created in Pennsylvania I bought a bunch of books, read and researched about opportunities to get a formal education. I found the Siebel Institute of Technology in Chicago. The classes talked about the actual production and legal aspects. From there I said, “I like what I’m hearing but I need to dig in more, do more research and figure out all aspects.” I toured just about every single distillery I could find. I never sat down and counted but probably went on 75 different tours around the U.S.
Distilling in and of itself has a lot more aspects to it, especially on the legal end. It’s easy to learn but difficult to master. I’ve talked to a lot of people with more experience than me and I’ve done my homework. It’s something that while I do have a good base knowledge, I’m going to continue to learn as I go. I think you have to have a little bit of humility and be open to learning from those who have more experience than you and be open minded. There’s a lot of education but what qualifies me is just the mindset of being open to learning and growing.
Tell us about your menu and the cocktails you expect to serve.
There’s going to be a lot of different, tasty and savory things. The basis of the menu is that we’ll have a fryer in the kitchen but I want to use it as little as possible. I want really tasty food that doesn’t need a fryer to taste good. We’re also going to have a small revolving selection of desserts. We’re going to scale back the sizes. So we’re probably going to have several bite-size pieces in one order. Without a doubt, the main food will be tapas style, which will carry to dessert as well.
We’ll have specialty cocktails. If someone wants a traditional highball drink like a rum and coke, we’ll do that. But because everybody’s had a rum and coke, they all start to taste the same. Whatever liquors we have we want our drink menu to be more complex than two ingredients. We have what I believe is a superior product and I want to put them together in a way that lets our liquor shine through and carry the cocktail.
Is there anything else you want to tell us about Mason Dixon Distillery?
We’re making good liquor. It’s my goal to make really good liquor that stands on its own; stuff that can be enjoyed just by being sipped straight or on the rocks and not something you have to wince and throw back…which leads to when you make cocktails with it, you make an even better tasting cocktail.
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Find Mason Dixon Distillery at 331 E. Water St. in Gettysburg.
- Top two photos: Casey Martin Photography
- Bottom photo: Davin Jurgensen
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