On our journey to discover this world of secret recipes and ancient spirits, we simply must begin at the temple of cocktails: Caff\u00e8 Camparino in Milan<\/b>. In this icon of Milanese culture, which has stood between the Duomo and the Galleria since 1915, the history of the aperitif has become the stuff of legend. Beloved by Verdi and Puccini, by Marinetti and Boccioni, the Camparino built its reputation in part thanks to an innovative system that ensured a continuous flow of sparkling water straight from the cellars, thus offering its customers a Campari and soda that was always perfect. And it was in this recently refurbished venue that the Campari Seltz was born, still the house\u2019s iconic cocktail to this day. Just a few steps away, we then find ourselves at Ristorante Biffi<\/b>, whose history began in 1867 alongside that of the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. Today, as then, the history of Biffi is inextricably linked to this monument: the sweet, violet-coloured syrup flavoured with vanilla, musk and American tonka beans, known as \u2018Crema Mengoni\u2019, is in fact dedicated to the Galleria\u2019s architect. And following the rediscovery of the original recipe and its refinement to suit modern tastes, the Mengoni Cocktail aims to pay fitting tribute once again to Giuseppe Mengoni and his architecture. <\/p>\n
Still in Milan, we find another institution in the world of fine drinks: Bar Jamaica<\/b>. In this venue \u2013 which, since 1911, has been the vibrant \u2018artists\u2019 caf\u00e9\u2019 just a stone\u2019s throw from the Academy of Fine Arts in the Brera district \u2013 the Rosso Usellini is still served today. This cocktail (made with equal parts vodka and Campari, to which is added hand-squeezed orange juice) was named in the 1950s by the Jamaica\u2019s founder, Elio Mainini, in honour of his friend, the painter Gianfilippo Usellini, a professor at Brera and a regular at the bar. A quick note for the more adventurous drinkers: there is a variation, known as the \u2018bombetta\u2019, which also includes gin. The most noble of Italian cocktails, the Negroni, is a hundred years old but doesn\u2019t look a day over twenty. And to celebrate it in style, the Bar Manager of the Hotel Principe di Savoia<\/b>, Daniele Confalonieri, has reimagined it to appeal to the female palate without compromising its unique characteristics: the recipe for the \u2018Cent\u2019anni Negroni\u2019 is based on Premio Ramazzotti, Campari Bitter, Vermouth Rosso del Professore, Domaine de Canton, ginger liqueur and ginger beer. <\/p>\n
The great classics of yesteryear are also being given a new lease of life at Bar Cavour, which sits alongside the Ristorante Del Cambio in Turin<\/b>, where barman Marco Torre has created a signature collection of six cocktails dedicated to some of the museums in the Piedmontese capital, using ingredients from the past inspired by the themes and eras featured in the galleries themselves. Among these, \u2018Il muto\u2019 is particularly popular: a blend of Bombay Sapphire London Dry Gin, Aged Martini Dry and Bergamot Liqueur, dedicated to the nearby Palazzo Carignano. If, on the other hand, you prefer a classic Americano, the Grand Hotel Sitea<\/b> is the place to go: here \u2013 where, in 1935, a certain Louis Armstrong stayed whilst in Turin to perform at the Teatro Chiarella and introduce jazz to Italy \u2013 the multi-award-winning barman Giuseppe Loi awaits you. <\/p>\n
From Piedmont we move on to Veneto, where the art of fine drinking ceases to be merely an art and becomes a religion. The Gran Caff\u00e8 Lavena in Venice<\/b>, founded in 1750 and renowned for being a regular haunt of the famous musician Richard Wagner, has also been making a name for itself in recent years thanks to its three barmen: Massimo Milanese, Alessandro Veronese and Maichel Costantini. Using a very \u2018Venetian\u2019 product such as Aperitivo Select, the Lavena\u2019s barmen have created a cocktail that blends tradition with innovation: it\u2019s called Lavena Point and is made with fresh strawberry pur\u00e9e, Select and topped up with Prosecco. A Spritz \u2018boosted by a few extra horsepower\u2019, as barman Tony Micelotta puts it, can be enjoyed at the Hotel Excelsior Venice Lido Resort<\/b>, the birthplace of the Venice Film Festival: it\u2019s called the Excelsior Spritz and, alongside the classic Aperol and Campari \u2013 both of which feature in this version \u2013 it also includes St. Germain (an elderflower liqueur), a slice of orange as a garnish and a twist of organic lemon from the Amalfi Coast. A special shaken Americano, on the other hand, can be enjoyed at the bar of the Hotel Ala<\/b>, which is dedicated to Countess Maria Nikolajewna O\u2019Rourke Tarnowska, who, right here in 1907, incited her young lover to kill her elderly betrothed. The bar at the Hotel Londra Palace<\/b> in Venice \u2013 the LondraBar \u2013 also has an ace up its sleeve: its head bartender, Marino Lucchetti, who as a child could not understand how a barman could remember more than three cocktail recipes, and today he has at least a hundred to his name. Among his most popular drinks are the Bellini LondraBar (made only from May to September using white peaches) and the Re Giorgio, dedicated to his father and a blend of gin, guava juice, sour and ginger beer. Just a few streets away lies the famous Caff\u00e8 Florian<\/b>, which has stood in St Mark\u2019s Square since 1720 and, in keeping with its centuries-old tradition, has always featured special cocktails and coffees on its menu, created specifically by its barmen for special occasions. This year, to celebrate the venue\u2019s 300th anniversary, barman Daniele Prevato has created the Florian 300 cocktail, whose aromas evoke Venice\u2019s history of trading in essences, spices and oils. <\/p>\n
It was in 1779, however, that Bortolo Nardini transformed an ancient rural tradition \u2013 that of going from house to house with a portable still \u2013 into a noble art that lives on to this day, beginning to sell that \u2018aqua vitae<\/i>\u2019 which is still famous throughout the world today thanks to the Grapperia Nardini in Bassano del Grappa<\/b> (VI). From a mixology perspective, however, it was in these very establishments that the famous Mezzoemezzo was invented in the early 20th century. The name derives from the original recipe, which called for the use of two liqueurs produced by Italy\u2019s oldest distillery (Rabarbaro and Rosso Nardini) mixed in equal parts: Mezzo and Mezzo, as the name suggests. Today, the Mezzoemezzo is a unique product, an aperitif liqueur created by infusing seven bitter herbs, aromatic plants and fruit. It is characterised by notes of rhubarb and hints of citrus, with a smooth, bittersweet flavour, and is still traditionally served with a splash of soda water and a twist of lemon. <\/p>\n
Let us now move on from the Roman architecture of Verona to the Art Nouveau style of the Hotel Adria in Merano<\/b>, in Trentino-Alto Adige. If we are lucky, in this place where people and stories come together, we may still come across the legendary barman and night manager Piero, the trusted guardian angel of the Adria\u2019s bar. Just as the night is man\u2019s friend, Piero had become a friend and confidant to those who frequented the hotel late into the night: listening and offering advice, Piero would serve his famous grappas, whiskies, gin and tonics and rums whilst recounting tales of old Merano. In the 2020 season, his presence will be only sporadic, as the legendary Adria barman has retired to enjoy his retirement. At the nearby Ristorante Museumstube Bagni Egart Onkel Taa<\/b> in Parcines (BZ), however, a special elderflower sparkling wine has been created, prepared according to an old Austrian family recipe and served here as an aperitif. It has now been copied all over the world, although the preparation varies and is not the original: it is the world-famous Hugo. <\/p>\n
At the Bar caff\u00e8 pasticceria Grigolon in Mondov\u00ec (CN)<\/b>, on the other hand, rakik\u00f2 was invented \u2013 a bitter liqueur made from roots, herbs and cinchona, created by the founder Francesco Comino. A one-litre bottle with a cork stopper and a label bearing the words of the vivacious Teresa: this is how this 25-degree liqueur, usually served with seltzer, originally looked. Today, the Rakik\u00f2 licence is no longer owned by the Grignolon family, but in this little Art Nouveau masterpiece you can still sense the magic of the era in which this marvellous liqueur was invented. A marvellous selection of vintage cocktails can also be found at the Grand Hotel Tremezzo in Tremezzina (CO)<\/b> and at its T Bar, the ideal place to sample the drink made famous by *The Great Gatsby*, the one inspired by the actress Mary Pickford, or even the one created in 1939 in honour of Ernest Hemingway by the Cuban bartender Costantino Ribalaigua. At Caff\u00e8 Pasticceria Cavour 1880 in Bergamo<\/b>, meanwhile, barman Alessandro Zana has devised a special cocktail to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Da Vittorio restaurant: it\u2019s called \u2018Fifty\u2019 and is made with Valtellina apple juice, cardamom, cinnamon, Appleton Jamaica rum and agave nectar. The aromas of Liguria, meanwhile, can be savoured in the \u2018Gin Pesto\u2019, a cocktail invented by Rosario Mazzocchi, head barman at the Grand Hotel Miramare in Santa Margherita Ligure (GE)<\/b>. It is based on \u2018Asinello\u2019 \u2013 a wine flavoured with sixteen herbs, traditionally enjoyed as an aperitif in the \u2018caruggi\u2019 of Genoa \u2013 to which are added Gin Mare, basil leaves, lime juice and sugar syrup. Try it in Suite 105 (where Guglielmo Marconi stayed) or Suite 118 (where Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh stayed in \u201947) and you\u2019ll discover yet more new sensations. Another firm favourite for Genoese people past and present is Caff\u00e8 pasticceria Mangini<\/b>, a historic venue where head barman Maurizio Romania serves up some of his signature creations, such as the Merry Christmas \u2013 a Christmas cocktail made with freshly squeezed wild mandarin juice, London dry gin and a few drops of Isolabella mandarinetto \u2013 or the Cap del Marinaio, a reimagining of London\u2019s Pimm\u2019s featuring Vermentino, basil syrup, cucumber gin, Tassoni citron liqueur and Camatti amaro, another piece of Ligurian history. The Caff\u00e8 pasticceria Piccardo<\/b> in Imperia, on the other hand, has been a fixture in Oneglia\u2019s history, with the same family behind the counter for three generations; until 2011, it was the domain of Franco Alessandroni. Piccardo\u2019s legendary barman, known to everyone simply as \u2018Franco\u2019, worked continuously at the caf\u00e9 from 1959 to 2007: among the customers he welcomed behind the bar at Piccardo were Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. <\/p>\n
The signature cocktail of the Grand Hotel Majestic \u201cgi\u00e0 Baglioni\u201d in Bologna<\/b> is named after a woman \u2013 Roberta \u2013 a tribute to Pietro Cuccoli made with Smirnoff vodka, Cherry Heering, Extra Dry vermouth, Campari and Cr\u00e8me de Banane, served in a Martini glass garnished with orange zest. Cuccoli, head barman at the Baglioni from 1933 to 1975, won the \u2018Pre-Dinner\u2019 category at the International Cocktail Competition in Saint Vincent in 1963, taking first place amongst 190 bartenders from 18 countries around the world. We\u2019ve already mentioned the Negroni\u2019s centenary, but if you want to discover all the secrets behind this icon of mixology, you must visit Caff\u00e8 Gilli in Florence<\/b>. There you\u2019ll find bar manager Luca Picchi, author of the book *Negroni Cocktail: an Italian legend*, a milestone in the literature of the sector and a treasure trove of exclusive information. To celebrate the centenary of the drink that still bears the Count\u2019s name today, Picchi has decided to create some \u2018twists\u2019 (or reinterpretations) of the traditional cocktail, such as the Negroni Centenario (served with soda on the side and a bitter-flavoured jelly), the Neg-Mex (a Negroni with mezcal and toasted marshmallows) and the Negroni Insolito, featuring roasted coffee beans and cinchona bark. <\/p>\n
The Ch 18 87 cocktail bar, on the other hand, was conceived by Simone Mina to celebrate the centenary of Ristorante Checchino dal 1887 in Rome<\/b>. Here, traditional Testaccio cuisine meets international mixology, giving rise to original drinks such as the Bloody Vaccinara (inspired by the Bloody Mary but using strained \u2018coda alla vaccinara\u2019 sauce instead of tomato juice), the New Pope (a reimagining of the Cardinale \u2013 the Roman version of the Negroni \u2013 but disguised as a dry Martini) or the Trikini, which draws on concepts from neurogastronomy and hormonal stimulation to offer a fresher take on the daiquiri. Another great bartender, Colin Peter Field (named the world\u2019s best bartender by Forbes and Travel + Leisure magazines), has left his mark at the Grand Hotel Excelsior Vittoria in Sorrento (NA)<\/b>. The famous English barman, in fact, created the Sorrentino cocktail in honour of President Guido Fiorentino \u2013 made with Limoncello and Prosecco, garnished with thinly sliced lemon \u2013 which has become famous worldwide. Elegance, sophistication, tradition and creativity are also found in the Vespasia cocktail, named after the restaurant of the same name at the Albergo Palazzo Seneca in Norcia (PG)<\/b>, the only boutique hotel in Umbria with a Michelin-starred restaurant. The recipe for the drink, kept safe by barmaid and ma\u00eetre d\u2019 Laura Santoro, calls for Saint Germain liqueur, Tanqueray gin, gentian and tonic water. Aniseed, on the other hand, takes centre stage at Caff\u00e8 Meletti in Ascoli Piceno<\/b>, a rare example of Art Nouveau architecture in the Marche region and the home of anisetta, a historic liqueur whose recipe was perfected in 1870 by Silvio Meletti. King Vittorio Emanuele visited it in 1908 and 1910 to purchase anisetta, thereby designating the establishment as a \u2018Supplier to the Royal Household\u2019. And if they serve it to you \u2018con la mosca\u2019, don\u2019t be alarmed: it\u2019s just a tiny coffee bean added to the glass. <\/p>\n