Back to Florence Cocktail Week

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Apr 24

Even though I could only get there for two days, 17 and 18 April, the days and nights were packed with events.

My highlights: The opening party at Serre Torrigiani, The Worldclass Semifinals at Locale, the parties at Floreal, MAD, 25 hours hotel, Gilli Caffe, Seeds, Santa, Drinx di Xing, Panicale, Four Seasons, Rex, Rasputin… did I name them all?I also interviewed Frank Grillo from Altamura Vodka, stay tuned in a future article! And Florence, see you in 2024!

Here is the official scoop from Florence Cocktail Week:

Florence Cocktail Week was from 17th-23 April, preceded by Tuscany Cocktail Week, from 10-16 April.

Florence Cocktail Week was back with 46 cocktail bars in Florence from 17 to 23 April 2023. The fourth edition of Tuscany Cocktail Week, which just took place in the best 85 cocktail bars in 9 Tuscan provinces from 10 to 16 April. The seventh edition of Florence Cocktail Week is supported by Municipality of Florence, and Metropolitan City of Florence. The Cocktail Week organized by Paola Mencarelli follows the scheme of the latest born Venice Cocktail Week and Cortina Cocktail Weekend. The kermesse includes events, masterclasses, product and book presentations, italian and international guestshifts. All declined at different times of the day, from Brunch to Night Shift.

The seventh edition of Florence Cocktail Week was sponsored by Municipality of Florence, with the support of Metropolitan City of Florence.

Seven days of widespread events in selected cocktail bars. Tailored appointments with the main theme of conscious and quality drinking.
A week full of content. Events, masterclasses, product and book presentations, italian and international guestshifts. All at different times of the day, from Brunch to Night Shift.
A drink list made up of 3 exclusive cocktails

1 Signature Cocktail #FCW23
1 drink RiEsco a Bere Italiano made by products Made in Italy
1 Eco Cocktail dedicated to sustainability

Florence Cocktail Week turned the spotlight on the bars to allow newbies and mixology enthusiasts to get to know the different locations and the expertise of the barmen themselves, who through their creations promote the culture of drinking and the interaction between customer and operator.

“Our cocktail weeks are not standardized events” says Paola Mencarelli. “To keep energy and curiosity alive, I like to review the format every year, introducing novelties and modifying the details that otherwise become monotonous over time"

FLORENCE COCKTAIL WEEK: 17 - 23 April 2023

The week edition of Florence Cocktail Week involves 46 best cocktail bars in Florence divided into Hotel Bars and Cocktail Bars from 17 to 23 April 2023.

Each selected venue has a Cocktail List #FCW23 created ad hoc for the event, where the bartenders give free rein to all their creativity.

Won't miss afternoon educational sessions with seminars and masterclasses, aimed at getting to know products, mixology techniques and bar formats, as well as book presentations and in-depth cultural meetings.

Evening entertainment with themed events and parties, dedicated cocktail lists and the participation of Guest bartender among the best on the Italian and international scene.

FCW 2023 events

The official Opening Party of Florence Cocktail Week was on Monday 17 April at Serre Torrigiani.

The Party takes up the format of the "Florence Cocktail Party" which was very successful in the summer of 2022.

With the POP UP BARS sponsored by the brands, featuring the FCW and TCW cocktail bars gathered for an evening in one place, the inevitable POP UP PIZZA with the best Florentine and Tuscan pizza makers, 3 Gambero Rosso wedges, a selection of food dedicated to Italian and Tuscan gastronomic excellence and finally the presence of the Italian and international friends of FCW who have supported the event over the years. With the music of Leo Tolu DJ.

THE GUESTS OF FCW23

Italian Guestshifts:

Flavio Angiolillo (Milan), Benjamin Cavagna (1930 Cocktail Bar, Milan), Enrico Scarzella (Velluto, Bologna), Edoardo Nono (Rita, Milan), Andrea Arcaini (Rita's Tiki Room, Milan), Roberto Artusio (La Punta Expendio de Agave , Rome), Riccardo Speranza (Ronin, Milan), Antonio Ferrara (The Bar, Aman Venice, Venice), Lorenzo di Cola (Experimental Cocktail Club, Il Palazzo Experimental, Venice), Lucas Kelm (Palazzina The Bar, Palazzina Grassi, Venice And The Rosapetra Bar, Rosapetra Spa Resort, Cortina d'Ampezzo, Belluno), Andrea Pomo (Santa Teresa 1796), Diego Melorio (Quanto Basta, Lecce), Riccardo Rossi (Freni&Frizioni, Rome), Vincenzo Pagliara (Folk Workshop, Pomigliano d'Arco, Naples), Mirko Turconi (Fine Spirits), Alex Frezza (L'Antiquario, Naples), Domenico Carella (Ca.ri.co, Milan), Lorenzo Querci (Moebius, Milan), Alessio Zaccardo (Drink Kong, Rome), Carmelo Licata (Seta Garden Bar, Giulianova, Teramo), Alfonso Califano (50 Spirito Italiano, Pagani, Salerno), Luca Angeli (Four Seasons Hotel, Milan), Edris Al Malat & Lorenzo Sirabella (Dry Milano, Milan), Peppe Doria (Volare, Bologna), Davide Patta (Ruggine, Bologna), Giulio Tabaletti (Gradisca Café, Genoa), Mattia Ria and Alice Musso (Blind Pig, Rome), Hannetta Lee (U'Kor, Bari), Vito Laselva, Kanpai, Milano.

International Guest shifts

Martin Hudak and Paolo Maffietti (Maybe Sammy, Sydney), Giacomo Giannotti (Paradiso, Barcelona), Salvatore Calabrese (The Donovan Bar, London), Simone Corporal (Sips, Barcelona), Valentino Longo (Shoshin Art Club, Miami), Alessandro Palazzi (Dukes, London), Adrian Michalcik (Pier 42, Oslo), Giulia Cuccurullo (Artesian Bar, London), Ariel Leizgold (BellBoy, Tel Aviv), Ziv Edelstein (That Sagiv Blum (MooShoo, Tel Aviv), Sofokli and Elvis Cali (New Wave, Tirana), Damiano Pezzi (Nimb, Copenhagen), Eduardo Nava Mendoza (Limantour Liquor Shop, Messico City), Sebastian Tollius (Bar at Eleven Madison Park, New York); Yeray Monforte (Bad Company Madrid), Aurélie Jean Marie Panhelreux & Lara Ponti (Copper Bay, Paris), Søren Krogh Sørensen (Michter's), Thairu Kelvin Thaiya (Hero, Nairobi), Cassandra Droz and Caroline Noirbusson, Divine (Paris).

COLLABORATIONS AND ACTIVITIES

For this year, a new collaboration with Tel Aviv Cocktail Week, which will be held in the Israeli capital from 14 to 20 May 2023. Thanks to the support of Pernod Ricard and in collaboration with the Israel Tourism Office, ITA Airways and Sand Tour, Florence Cocktail Week hosts the guest shift review “Tel Aviv Cocktail Week goes to Florence Cocktail Week!”, with a press presentation on Wednesday 19 April at The Social Hub Florence.

Also back for the third consecutive year are the initiatives “Dining with the Spirits” and “Pizza with the Spirits”; Florentine and Tuscan chefs and pizza makers will use spirits as ingredients in their dishes and pizzas, proposing them during the two weeks as part of their menus or on dedicated events. In calendar, a dinner with food critics Leonardo Romanelli and Giuseppe Calabrese, who will support chef Vito Mollica at Chic Nonna for a dinner revival of the 80s flavours.

Plenty of space for the world of young people. “Young Students” and "Young talents", the two initiatives aimed at students who attend Hotel Institutes and young bartenders who already practice the profession organized in collaboration with Antonia Lo Casto, Sala and Bar Teacher at Hotel Institutes and Professional Training Schools in Florence and Prato.

New for this 2023 the initiative Young Guest Bartender, created to give voice to the new generations of Bartenders involving young bartender under 25 in a GUEST which will see them protagonists behind the bars of the #FCW23. The selected Young Bartenders will have to demonstrate his talent but also his professionalism in contacting a company, deciding and requesting the products to use, developing the cocktail list for the evening, creating the flyer for the event, introducing the guest to one of the participating cocktail bars and launching its own guest.

With Michel from PanicAle and me in his panda mask.

To help young bartenders an exceptional tutor: Antonio Ferrara, Bar Manager of Aman Venice, to which the participants under 25 can ask for advice and suggestions. A jury of industry experts will then evaluate the most interesting guest who will be announced at the end of the event.

All the young bartenders under 25 involved in the initiatives will have access to a masterclass by Valentino Longo on the online training platform Shoshin Art Club.

As a demonstration of the strong community of bartenders that has been created in recent years throughout Tuscany, among the Guests there will be also Tuscan bars. The collaboration between Florentine and Tuscan bartenders have become a strong identity factor of the cocktail week, a way to form an interesting cooperation that drives an entire region and not the individual.

The #FCW23 Design

FCW brand has always had the main characteristic of changing is main brand colo every edition. For Florence Cocktail Week 2023 remains the International Klein Blue (IKB) of the sixth edition. The color created by the French visionary artist Yves Klein who contributed to the revision of the world of conventional colors, which has become a parallel hymn to brightness and creative strength.

The break with the past on a design level lies not only in the choice of keeping the color of the previous edition, but also in the introduction of a complementary one, following the trends of the moment: for this edition it is magenta, color of the year 2023.

with Riccardo Rossi from Freni e Frizioni

Ale from Drinx and Alessio from Drink Kong

FLORENCE COCKTAIL WEEK 2023

COCKTAIL BARS

Bitter Bar
Cibrèo Ristorante & Cocktail Bar
Caffè Concerto Paszkowski
*Caffé Gamberini
*Ditta Artigianale Ferrucci
Djaria American Bar
Dome
*Drinx, Il Gusto di Xinge
*Eye Cocktail Bar by Chic Nonna
FAKE Firenze
Floreal
Fuk
Gilli 1733
Gucci Giardino 25
Guné
Inferno
*Koob Experience
La Ménagère
La Petite
Locale
MAD - Souls & Spirits
Move On
PanicAle
Rasputin
Rex
Rivoire
Santa Cocktail Club
Santarosa Bistrot
*Seeds @ Ostello Tasso
*Serre Torrigiani
Strizzi Garden
*Tiratissima
Urbano
Viktoria Lounge Bar

HOTEL BARS

35. Atrium Bar - Four Seasons Hotel Firenze

36. *Companion Bar Dolce Amaro - 25 Hours Hotel Piazza San Paolino

37. Divina Terrazza Rooftop Bar - Grand Hotel Cavour

38. Empireo - Plaza Hotel Lucchesi

39. Harry's Bar The Garden - Sina Villa Medici

40. Irene Firenze - Hotel Savoy

41. La Terrazza - Grand Hotel Minerva

42. Picteau Bistrot&Bar - Hotel Lungarno

43. *Rooftopbar - The Social Hub Florence

44. Santa Villa Cora - Villa Cora

45. *SE-STO on Arno Rooftop Bar - The Westin Excelsior, Florence

46. The Fusion Bar&Restaurant, Gallery Hotel Art

*new entry 2023

Florence Cocktail Week is an event sponsored by the Municipality of Florence, with the support of the Metropolitan City of Florence

Thanks to:

MAIN SPONSORS

Altamura Distilleries, Distilleria Nardini 1779, Martin Miller’s Gin, Stock