In the pursuit of flavours, whether in the World’s Best Bars, Michelin Restaurants or the avid at-home cocktail maker, the wonderful world of fermented ingredients offers a rich & delicious look through the evolution of human tastes and ingenuity. 

The Campari Academy UK team was honoured to host Dr Johnny Drain at our London home to take a select group of bartenders, training managers and hospitality professionals through an immersive and thorough look at the why and how of implementing different fermentation models within their homes of hospitality. 

But, WHO is Dr Johnny Drain? 

Dr. Johnny Drain is a materials scientist turned food innovator, renowned for his expertise in fermentation and sustainability. With a PhD from Oxford, he applies scientific precision to the culinary world, crafting bold, sustainable flavours. Johnny has collaborated with some of the world’s most acclaimed bars and restaurants, including Lyaness in London, Native in Singapore, and the three-Michelin-starred Mirazur in France. He’s also worked with Noma’s Nordic Food Lab and top global drinks brands, pushing boundaries in food and beverage innovation. Through these partnerships, Johnny champions sustainable gastronomy, transforming waste into delicious, future-forward creations often via the power of fermentation. 

A question Tris and the team posed to Johnny is; Why do we Ferment? 

Fermentation is the lifeblood of flavour in the glass. Without fermentation, we’d have no wine, no beer, and no spirits. Shocker! No complexity, no depth. And probably no bars. For bartenders, fermentation is a gateway to innovation and turbo-charged taste, offering a toolkit to craft ingredients with unique flavour profiles, acidity, and funk that can elevate their drinks. Fermentation invites experimentation: house-made misos, lacto-fermented fruits, or the acetic punch of kombuchas and vinegars can add dynamism and complexity to a bar program, while allowing fascinating stories to be told around the ingredients used to make them. 

Through the session, Johnny and the Campari Academy team explored two Lacto-ferments, Blackening & the delicious world of Amazake. 

The celebrations brought together bartenders, hospitality professionals, trade media and influencers from across the UK with an event that demonstrated the cutting-edge docuseries, Perspectives, the brain-child of Campari Academy’s Creative Director, Monica Berg, along with snippets from our local Campari Academy team’s upcoming series of seminars and an amazing array of drinks from the team from the Artesian Bar inspired by our collaborative Artesian Atelier program.

The evening was overseen by Campari Academy UK’s Jono Mayes, who along with Monica explored the first three episodes of Perspectives to a captive audience to understand the topics of Community & Culture, Design & Technology and Raw Materials and Flavour.

Down in our state-of-the-art Campari Academy space, our team took some lucky participants through aspects of our 2023 seminar program; making these individuals the first to experience what being in a Campari Academy UK session is truly about.

Loris Contro (Italian Icons Ambassador – UK) started off his introduction to The Art of Hospitality with the phrase; “The art of hospitality as we know it is dead”, a direct yet honest understanding of the current hospitality crisis not just enveloping the UK, but the rest of the world.

“The art of hospitality as we know it is dead”

Loris Contro

The Art of Hospitality is Loris’ love-letter to the industry, but he is not the only one wanting it to succeed, with our esteemed collaborators Ago Perrone & Giorgio Bargiani of The Connaught Hotel (#8 50 Best Bars 2022), Art of Hospitality will deliver on the three key pillars of Authenticity, Teamwork & Empathy to inspire and equip the future leaders of our industry.

The Story of Spirits was brought to life by Chris Dennis (Rum & Whiskies Ambassador – UK) which is a series of seminars that is challenging the norms of how spirits, history, drinks and culture are communicated from a perspective that looks outside the bartender universe.

Chris is working with esteemed writers Matt Parker & Reid Mitenbuler to bring a new way of connecting the people and cultural journey of a spirit with bartenders, allowing for these stories that could be lost in the hallways of history to be told by bartenders for years to come.

To finish off the night, we had UK Prestige Ambassador Tristram Lilburne-Fini bring an immersive experience to life from the Drink Hacking Series.

Drink Hacking is a series dedicated to uncovering how experiences can be shaped through our Senses, with Techniques and Approaches within the bar world that brings science into the hospitality art form.

We want to thank every person that attended the event and the team are excited to welcome you into your Campari Academy space in the near future.

In this edition we explore Campari and how the story of its history and unmistakable flavour have influenced Aperitivo through the decades.

This is why we love our jobs! Working with inspirational people who bring different experience and perspectives to our guests.

Camparino in Galleria is situated in Milan’s Piaza del Duomo and boasts a terrace with one of the most spectacular views you could ever want to accompany your Negroni.

Our wonderful hosts for the day were Lab22. This bar should need little in the way of introduction, especially given their list of awards in recent years. Named at Number 1 in the Top 50 Cocktail Bars in the UK for 2022 and at the Worlds 50 Best 2021 their cocktail menu ‘Theories & Frontiers’ was named best in the world. Remarkable achievements, delicious cocktails and amazing hospitality all round.

The team from the Camparino took us through the history of this iconic bar from it’s opening over 100 years ago in 1915 right up the modern day where it now sits at 27 in the list of the Worlds 50 Best bars. We were treated to a menu of Campari Spritz’s, Shakeratos and a wave of inspired delicious Negroni twists.

In the evening the Mattia Capezzuoli and Francesco De Cristafaro from the Camparino stepped behind the bar to serve up bespoke creations and Milanese classics until the early hours.

Hosted by Loris Contro, Campari Academy UK Brand Ambassador and joined by Giorgio Bargiani – Assistant Director of Mixology at The Connaught Bar and Global Advocate for 1757 Vermouth Di Torino.

Taking place at Amaro, an elevated neighborhood cocktail bar launched by Head Mixologist Elon Soddu (formerly of The Savoy) in Kensington, London. Gathering a stellar team of five-star hotel professionals, AMARO brings the hospitality and mixology standards of a luxury establishment to the intimate premises of a 38-seat independent bar.

This edition of Aperitivo Heroes explored one of Italy’s most important period for our industry, The Café Culture in Turin, how its most famous produce came to fame and why bittersweet flavours have become part of the backbone of some of the most timeless classic cocktails.

This was a journey through the history and flavours that shaped the food and drinks we love today. Skillfully guided by Giorgio who is a driving force behind one of, if not the most awarded bars in history and our very own Italian icon Loris Contro.

Giorgio and the AMARO team created a tailor-made drinks offering that showcased quintessential Italian flavours.

Each Artesian Atelier event will see a leading bar team from the global cocktail scene, alongside additional participants from London’s best bars, invited to take part in a private workshop in The Langham’s state-of-the-art cookery school, Sauce by The Langham. Given a selected topic and ingredients, the teams will experiment and create together, documenting the process to share the session’s outcomes and learnings with the wider bar community on their digital platforms. The following day, a guest shift will take place in Artesian, with a menu showcasing the cocktail creation designed collaboratively between Artesian and the visiting bar, available to guests for one day only.

The first Artesian Atelier took place on 17 and 18 July, in collaboration with Barcelona’s Paradiso, ranked no. 3 in The World’s 50 Best Bars 2021, and with the support of Campari Group UK. The Artesian team led by Giulia Cuccurullo and the Paradiso team led by Giacomo Giannotti ran a workshop on Sunday 17 July, with the input of just a handful of London’s other leading bartenders. On Monday 18 July, a limited-edition menu was presented to the public in Artesian, featuring two cocktails from the latest Paradiso menu, two cocktails from Artesian’s recently launched Duality menu, and one unique creation that was developed during the previous day’s workshop.

The first drinks created and showcased from Atelier used Wild Turkey 101 with almond, pine and fig leaf. We will go into more detail on how this was created in a separate post coming next week.

On the launch of Artesian Atelier, Giulia Cuccurullo, Head Bartender at Artesian, commented: “Innovation and collaboration are at the heart of everything we do at Artesian, and the Atelier programme is the perfect opportunity to champion and advance these values with our friends from both the London and the international bar scene. The creative process will be the subject of the first Artesian Atelier workshop, and there is no bar more suited to exploring this theme with than Paradiso. When working together with inspiring minds from around the world, the opportunities to learn and grow as a community are endless and we cannot wait to see what the outcomes of the Artesian Atelier programme will be.”

Jono Mayes, National Trade & Bartender Advocacy Manager for Campari Group UK added: “In partnering with Artesian Atelier, Campari Group UK hopes to bring together individuals at the leading edge of the industry, to share in the journey of creating new drinks and drinking experiences. Connecting thought leaders from different cultures and perspectives is very much a shared goal – one that seeks to explore new ideas, to inspire bartenders and consumers alike. This is the start of an exciting new chapter in our relationship with the UK bartender community, and we’re excited for what is still to come.”