The mover and shaker of Italy’s mixology scene, Florence’s holiday drinks will have you toasting the town all winter long.
The truffle one
Savini Tartufi Truffle Restaurant, Via Porta Rossa 19
The name: Truffle Martini Cocktail
The backstory: Noël Coward famously said, “A perfect martini should be made by filling a glass with gin, then waving it in the general direction of Italy.” Replace gin with vodka and substitute the waving with a truffle-flavoured dwarf peach, known as a peschiola, from Tuscany’s Savini Tartufi and the result is this truffle Martini cocktail. Served seductively in the opulent lounge bar of a five-star hotel, James Bond’s “shaken but not stirred” is so Christmases past (well, 2015 anyway).
The champagne one
Gilò, via dei Fossi 44/R
www.gilopianobar.com / FB Gilò Pianobar
The name: Lady Gilò
The backstory: Just because it’s called the Lady Gilò doesn’t mean it’s for ladies only. A sensuous concoction of Champagne, St-Germain elderflower liqueur and Grey Goose La Poire vodka fizzes away in our Christmas content in the cozy design-led surroundings from Florentine stylist Gianfranco Lotti—all happy hour drinks come with a few nibbles out of respect for the aperitivo tradition. The cherry on the cake actually amounts to three red grapes in the curvaceous glass.
The whisky one
Love Craft, borgo S. Frediano 24
FB Love Craft Firenze
The name: Penicillin
The backstory: Blended scotch, honey ginger syrup, fresh lemon juice and Scent of Islay’s Peat make up this remedy for winter colds at Florence’s first whisky bar, which opened in borgo San Frediano this September. What’s with the name? H.P. Lovecraft was an American horror writer at the turn of the 20th century, just like the bar’s ambience with its air of mystery, period furnishings and Gatsby-style wallpaper.
