After the selections that involved more than a thousand bartenders in four stages throughout Italy, the tenth edition of the Campari Bartender Competition has reached the final evening which, Monday 20 May, crowned Alessandro D’Alessio of Rita’s Tiki Room in Milan.
In the historic headquarters of Campari Academy in Sesto San Giovanni, Alessandro D’Alessio he prevailed over the other two finalists who had performed before him: Andrea Pace of Drink Kong in Rome, second place ed Edoardo Cipriani of The Soda Jerk of Verona, third.
They were evaluated by a tasting jury made up of Giulia Cuccurullo, head bartender of the renowned Artesian in London, Leonardo Leuci of the Jerry Thomas Project, Giorgio Bargiani of the Connaught Bar in London, Salvatore Calabrese “The Maestro”, one of the biggest names in the world of mixology, Alessandra Rubini, chef ambassador of Alma and Bruno Malavasi, Research and Development Manager of the Campari Group, joined on the technical jury by Samuele Ambrosi, owner of CloakRoom, CloakLab and Boss Hogg in Treviso and on the communication jury by Nicola Scarnera, Campari Academy Manager. Supporting the three finalists are the tutors Luana Bosello, Andrea Dracos and Stefano Cattaneo.
Because Alessandro D’Alessio won
To support the taste characteristics of your cocktail Red line (the name is inspired by subway line which connects the center of Milan to the Campari headquarters in Sesto), D’Alessio was able to count on one presentation which certainly had an impact on the communication component, thanks to a good ability to move on stage and capture the attention of the audience and judges. “He embodies the traditional and modern barman at the same time, combining classical preparation with knowledge of contemporary techniques,” he comments Luca Wu, one of the most important entrepreneurs on the Milanese cocktail bar scene. “The contestant who was best able to interpret the communication, the execution of the drink and even that little bit of things won damn which never hurts towards judges”, he adds Luca Azzolinaexpert bartending trainer and collaborator of ApeTimepresent at the Campari event with Nicole Cavazzutiauthor of this report.
On the other hand, the big Salvatore Calabrese he had reiterated it just before the match: “I always say that the bar is a great theater, the more we know how to act, the more people come to know us.” And Alessandro D’Alessio, combining great competence, excellent technique and a bit of theatricality, won the title of Campari Bartender of the Year 2024as well as the possibility of working with the Milanese spirits giant.
Great innovations for the 10 year competition
A particular edition, that of 2024, which marks ten years of the Campari Bartender Competition, today among the most important sector competitions in Italy. For the occasion the 10 semi-finalists – who competed on Sunday at the Camparino in Galleria in Piazza Duomo in Milan for the final selection – had chosen one of the nine themes of past editions, reworking them also on the basis of the rule which, this year, required that each cocktail in the competition include at least 3 cl of Campari. Another new feature introduced for the 2024 final, the creating a drink paired with a dishin line with the growing trend of food pairing involving mixology.
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