GUCCI SIP: Gucci cocktail on the go? It’s now a reality as the luxury powerhouse is introducing Elisir d’Elicriso, a collectible pre-mixed cocktail developed by mixology maestro Giorgio Bargiani for Florence’s Gucci Giardino 25 café and cocktail bar.
An esteemed Italian bartender who’s been working at London’s hip Connaught Bar as assistant director of mixology for eight years, Bargiani created a signature blend that is all about evoking personal memories, revering the Tuscan region and telegraphing the values embedded in Gucci’s 100-year-plus history.
“Personality makes each cocktail unique, I’m always looking for something that makes customers remember the cocktails and especially the moments linked to it,” Bargiani said unveiling Elisir d’Elicriso at the cafè on Piazza della Signoria Thursday.
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Coming in a finely chiseled glass bottle that’s reminiscent of fragrance flacons, the peach pink-hued liquor is a complex yet balanced mix of several ingredients, some unexpected.
Bargiani went through 15 tastings over seven months to find the perfect blend. Based on Vermouth and its citrusy and herbaceous notes, further exalted by the Vetiver and N.4 Podere Santa Bianca liquors, the cocktail is capped off with drops of London Dry Gin, white vinegar, red wine from Tenuta San Guido, as well as helichrysum essential oil.
The latter, Bargiani said, “smells like home, like Pisa [his hometown], the sea and Mediterranean scrub.”
He suggested tasting it in four different ways, as is, with the addition of ice, with a dash of sparkling wine, or adding soda or tonic water for a long drink iteration.
“This collaboration with Gucci proved I did something right,” said the mixologist who started his career at a luxury hotel in Italy’s resort destination Portofino before joining the London hot spot. “Gucci and I share the same Tuscan roots, and we have the same vision, in pursuing excellence, looking for elegance without being stuck in the past, and always craving for innovation,” he said.
Elisir d’Elicriso will be added to the cocktail bar’s menù and it will also be available for sale in Italy in a limited run at Giardino 25 and its online store, as well as on the Gucci Osteria e-commerce in the pre-mixed version for 140 euros.
As reported, Gucci Giardino 25 is the latest addition to the multidisciplinary space designed by creative director Alessandro Michele, Gucci Garden. It quietly opened last January and is helmed by the Umbria, Italy-born Martina Bonci.