From September 20, 2022 the living legends of mixology at Melloni Street, 9
What is it all about? Events under the sign of the history of classic cocktails, thematic evenings with the authors themselves as guests or top connoisseurs of the drink featured in the One Night.
Flores Cócteles the place
Flores Cócteles is a unique bar not only in Milan but throughout Italy. Undoubtedly an elegant cocktail bar with refined taste and location (both in style and concept connected to the Argentine restaurant El Porteño Prohibido but focused on classic mixing it is in fact also a center for spreading the culture of mixed drinks. In a few words, it focuses on a concept of cocktail tie it to the mixology world for drinks with a balanced and very interesting taste.
In line with its drink list, which is articulated in a selection of 7 great classics revisited respecting the original recipe but with a modern twist, Flores Cócteles organizes a series of events to popularize the art of mixology and responsible and conscious drinking with the help of leading industry-recognized myxologists.
What is meant by Mixology?
Mixology is the art of mixed drinking and is based on creating a delicate balance between all ingredients, alcoholic and non-alcoholic, which must be carefully and thoughtfully chosen based on a cocktail recipe but also by selecting particular varieties of spirits and essences, often also made by the bartender himself.
Events of Flores Classic Drink Night
Beginning Tuesday, Sept. 20, the authors of mainstream cocktails, those on the IBA (International Bartenders Association) list and their most credentialed connoisseurs will take turns at its bar.
The first appointment is with the world’s top expert on Negroni, Florentine Luca Picchi, as well as author of the book ” Negroni cocktail. An Italian Legend” (Giunti Editore). A truly bang start a few days before the end of Negroni Week.
Second guest, Tuesday, Oct. 11, Roberto Pellegrini, father of the famous Federica as well as the main keeper of the secrets of the Spritz, to lead an evening discovering the origins and transformations of this famous and seemingly simple cocktail now widespread really everywhere.
The Flores Classic Drink Night review will continue in November and December. The schedule, which is still being finalized, currently features the following.
18 OCTOBER – PATRICK PISTOLESI (Drink Kong, Roma)
NOVEMBER 1ST – MARCO ROSSI (Officine Sbiellate, Milano)
22 NOVEMBER – CRISTIAN BUGIADA (Freni e Frizioni | La Punta Expendio de Agave, Roma)
6 DECEMBER – BENJAMIN CAVAGNA (1930 Cocktail Bar, Milano)
The cocktail List
On the list are seven reinterpretations of great classics Especiales (€16) by Diego Atlantico, bar manager at Flores Cócteles, who has interpreted the classics Clover Club, Vodka Sour, Long Island, Manhattan (Perfect) and Zombie with rigor and respect for the original recipes.
Remaining from the previous drink list are Negroni “Vintage” and Paloma, which became among Flores’ best sellers soon after its opening in April 2022.
Reinterpretations of the classics play on unexpected presentation with a wow effect, including glasses made specifically to enhance a particular blend and dramatic decorations with dry ice, edible flowers, velvet and foam. But that’s not all: some reinterpretations focus instead on minimalist decoration but especially on niche products that ennoble the drink. This is the case of Negroni “Vintage,” made with a gin aged for over a month in oak barrels.
File rouge of every twists on classic is the attention to color (all drinks have fall colors in keeping with the season) and respect for the original ingredients in the recipes, which remain the same if constructed differently.
Completing the drink list’s offerings are fourteen Clasicos (€14) on a rotating basis; currently available are Mojito, Daiquiri, Spritz, Hugo, Margarita, Tommy’s Margarita, Gin&Vodka selection, Tequila Sunrise, Bloody Mary, Americano, Sbagliato, Martini Cocktail, Caipirinha, MI-TO, Caipiroska.
Which is the idea behind the Flores Classic Drink Night project?
Our aspiration is to contribute to the growth of classic cocktail culture and mixing history. After the dark ages of mixology, at the turn of the 1970s and throughout the 1990s, we were swept into the Second Golden Age of cocktails. A still ongoing phenomenon that began in Italy a dozen years ago. Since then, the level of mixed drinking -Italian and international- has grown so much. Which is good, of course. But, on the other hand, we have witnessed the boom of “signature drinks,” or original creations, forgetting too often the classic recipes. Which are and must always be the basis of any research and innovation. That is why we decided to invest in promoting the culture of classic mixing
explains Sebastian Bernardez, promoter of the Flores Cócteles project along with his brother Alejandro Bernardez and Fabio Acampora, partners in Dorrego Company, a company that has changed the Milanese nightlife scene since 1995 by opening more than 20 businesses in the Horeca sector.
Drink Nights Programme
Negroni Night Tuesday, Sept. 20 from 7 p.m.
- Where:📍Flores Cocteles | via Macedonio Melloni 9, Milano
- Cocktail: NEGRONI
- Special guest: Luca Picchi
▪︎ From 7 to 8 p.m. Negroni Classico meeting and tasting. A fascinating journey through time to retrace the entire Negroni history with an exceptional guide: Luca Picchi.
LIMITED POSITIONS, booking recommended, infoline 02 25062491
▪︎ From 8.00 p.m. Luca Picchi will be at the bar to create his tailor-made Negroni sodas, according to the customer’s taste, with different sodas, one of his twists and one of his unpublished ones, in addition to the classic Negroni. All the classic cocktails and twists from the new Flores drink list will be available throughout the evening.
A bit of history: The Negroni
Negroni is one of the rare cocktails created by a customer and not a bartender. It was born in Florence, between 1918 and 1919, in the Casoni grocery in Via de’ Tornabuoni, where the Giorgio Armani Atelier is now located. It was here that the young shop boy Fosco Scarselli poured the first Negroni for Count Camillo Negroni. “The Count, a great drinker, asked for his Americano to be strengthened with gin to raise the alcohol content without varying the colour and giving an extra note of perfume,” explains Luca Picchi, bartender and leading expert on the Negroni cocktail.
About Luca Picchi
From bar manager for 20 years at the historic Caffè Rivoire 1872 in Piazza della Signoria in Florence to bartender at Caffè Gilli 1773 in the same city, tireless and passionate researcher, Luca Picchi is the world’s foremost Negroni expert.
Not only for the many variants he has elaborated, but also for the precise work of historical documentation that has resulted in the book ‘Negroni cocktail. An Italian Legend’ (Giunti Editore). Highly esteemed by his colleagues and appreciated by his customers, he is often the protagonist of seminars, lectures and drinking shows.
TUESDAY 11 OCTOBER from 7 p.m.| Spritz Night
- 🍹COCKTAIL: SPRITZ
- Where:📍Flores Cocteles | via Macedonio Melloni 9, Milano
- Special guest: ROBERTO PELLEGRINI
Programme
From 7 to 8 p.m. meeting and tasting. An extraordinary opportunity to discover everything we wanted to know about the famous aperitif, through the memories of Roberto Pellegrini, for many years barman at the Hotel Danieli, the Caffè Florian and head barman at the Hotel Gritti in Venice. The evenings spent at the head of the Longhi bar at the prestigious Gritti on the Canalgrande, according to Hemingway “the best hotel in a city of great hotels”, listening to the stories of Hugo Pratt, Rubinstein and many other famous people, strengthening friendships that would last for years. Stories of glasses, drinks and people, unforgettable moments of a Venice that is no longer existing.Dalle h. 19 alle 20 incontro e degustazione. Imperdibile occasione per scoprire tutto quello che avremmo voluto sapere sul celeberrimo aperitivo, attraverso i ricordi di Roberto Pellegrini, per anni barman all’Hotel Danieli, al Caffè Florian e capo barman dell’Hotel Gritti di Venezia. Le sere trascorse alla guida del bar Longhi al prestigioso Gritti sul Canalgrande, secondo Hemingway “il migliore albergo in una città di grandi alberghi”, ad ascoltare le storie di Hugo Pratt, Rubinstein e numerosi altri personaggi famosi, rinsaldando amicizie che sarebbero durate anni. Storie di bicchieri, drink e persone, indimenticabili momenti di una Venezia che non c’è più.
From 8 p.m. Roberto Pellegrini at the bar
All classic cocktails and Twists from Flores’ new drink list will remain available throughout the evening.
INFORMATION TO THE PUBLIC
Flores Cócteles, via Macedonio Melloni 9, Milano | tel 02 25062491
IG profile: @flores.cocteles
Open from Tuesday to Sunday, from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Dorrego Company
Dorrego Company creates and manages restaurant formats. Founded in 1995, led by Alejandro Bernardez, Fabio Acampora, Sebastian Bernardez, the Dorrego Company imagines, designs, builds and manages lounge bars and restaurants that are always innovative and outstanding. Their consolidated experience in the sector has allowed them to bring strong innovation to the premises managed by the group, both in terms of food and wine offerings and architectural layouts. Dorrego Company is the owner in Milan of the bars Living Liqueur and Delight, Refeel Coffee & More and the restaurants Pisco Cucina di Mare and the four El Porteño Darsena, El Porteño Arena, El Porteño Prohibido, El Porteño Gourmet. In October 2020 was opened in Rome, the first El Porteño Roma . While in Milan in April 2022 opened Flores Cócteles, a cocktail bar dedicated to classic mixing., opened in April 2022.