The Superbar experience, which I talked about a couple of weeks ago, helped me get something for which I harbored a burning curiosity: the first taste of the 'Imbrutito' cocktail. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, I'll take a step back.
Amidst the stands of various liquors and spirits, there was only one unbranded one at the Milan event. If, like me, you had approached it, you might have found a bartender at the counter who would have offered you a drink of Campari, Cynar, and Lemonsoda. I must admit that none of these three ingredients has ever appealed to me, so I found myself holding a glass that I was sure would stay full, leaving me only to figure out how I could make it with an excuse that might seem reasonable. None of that: the 'Imbruttito' was yet another confirmation for me that if a cocktail is dosed and mixed correctly it turns out to be a positive discovery. I had approached this space during the event because I follow the 'Milanese Imbruttito' page on a daily basis, which tends to be ironic about the behaviors of the Milanese-typical: from when they are at a restaurant to when they drive, from the vacations they take to the way they talk, from who they hang out with to the constant hurry. So Superbar was my chance to look out into the 'Imbruttito' world, the chance that made me realize that a phenomenon like theirs, that from a facebook page they created a cocktail, would be great food for thought. So I contact them by e-mail and the guys show enthusiasm to meet me to chat about this rising phenomenon.
We make an appointment to meet in Milan (where else but the habitat of the page's protagonist?!) and through a series of unfortunate events (crazy navigator and delirious traffic) we land at the Metropolis, where we manage to grab a table. Federico, one of the three creators, lets out a laugh when, as a first question, I ask him to tell me in a few words what the Milanese Imbruttito is. He laughs because he lets us know that since the idea has become an avalanche, he has already explained it a thousand times. The important thing, he tells us, is to emphasize that the whole thing was born out of a 'hangover,' a real 'hangover,' for fun, and such it still is for all of them. Undoubtedly it shines through in the way he talks about it that, as pressing as the commitment is, it is the basic idea that it should be handled with irony and disenchantment that makes it the strong point. Between all three they manage to divide the tasks: online publications, meetings with the press and all the rest, a huge rest; each boy in fact has kept his own job, taking care in addition also of the page, whose success born from simple word of mouth is well understandable even only by the number of appreciations it has reached, to date one hundred and sixty-six thousand five hundred and ninety-two, that is a titanic number if one counts that the users can only be from Milan or at least acquaintances of this 'category'. It would be very interesting to delve into the phenomenon on a sociological level, but what we are most interested in is the 'beverage' part that came out of this incredible idea. Federico explains to me that it was the acquaintance with Marco Gualtieri and Ugo Fava, owner of 'Le Biciclette' bar, that led to the birth of a personalized aperitif, because after all, happy hour is the highlight of Milanese life. Bartender Max Muratore conceived this drink, undoubtedly innovative thanks to the union of the very popular Campari and the almost extinct Cynar, which was promoted through a series of events in number of ten, divided between before the summer and immediately after, in different locations. Needless to explain that the public favor was above expectations and the success rewarded the efforts made to better organize the evenings. Federico explains to us, however, that this series of Thursday night aperitifs was not the first opportunity to make their phenomenon known, as there had already been several one-night stands, the first of which was at the Fabbrica del Vapore, in which our guys had participated. Events like these, he anticipates, are planned for the future as well; in fact, the goal is not to propose too many initiatives, but to work on the best ones so that they are all put to successful use. From printing T-shirts to personalized diaries, from appearing on Radio Deejay to writing a column on M2O, from creating a cocktail to promoting aperitifs and evenings with considerable feedback from followers.
It has been really fascinating for me to discover the hidden story behind a cocktail that I have enjoyed from the beginning, a story so far young, but also potentially explosive, that I may have written about first. What is certain is that I managed to sell Federico a pestle: I, too, managed to gain something from their ingenious idea, born right out of a social drink.
