Handshake was founded by Shahin Khojastehzad in Portland, Maine in 2023. He and his family fled their home in Tehran, Iran after the 1979 Islamic Revolution and found their new home in Maine. His upbringing in Portland was a mixture of his Persian heritage and the many flavors of different cultures he found in Portland. Growing up with a small but diverse community, he experienced cuisine from Maine, Latinx, European, African, and AAPI, that are all expressed in Handshake Digestif Bitters: lemongrass from Cambodia, hibiscus from the Latin America, Italian digestivos from his wife’s maternal side of the family, Persian tea from Iran, to name just a few. 

Shahin found himself in the Maine craft beer industry, managing and owning a James Beard nominated bier cafe in Portland for 14 years. His passion for the food and beverage industry has brought him around the world, and he’s encountered a lot of regional herbal elixirs that helped digestion after a big meal. In those travels, flavors, memories, and sensory experiences have left their imprint. Shahin wrote the first recipe & enlisted his childhood friend & head distiller at Law’s Whiskey, Samuel Poirier to help dial in process. After seven years of fine tuning Handshake, Shahin was finally ready to share it with the world in 2023. This project is important to him to further POC representation in food and beverage industry, in Maine and beyond. Diverse cultures bring out the best of America and show that we are better together.