[:it]Diego Ferrari: low alcohol cocktails, the role of Rum Barista at Ron Matusalem and the Cocktail Art group – Part II of the interview[:]

[:en]

We brought you the first part of the interview with Diego Ferrari, an internationally renowned mixologist, in the last blog post. Today we show you the second part, which explains how to prepare a low-alcohol cocktail and what it means to be a rum bartender for Ron Matusalem. At the end, he told us some behind-the-scenes information on Cocktail Art, the Facebook group he founded.

Are there some great classics that, more than others, lend themselves to being revisited with a low alcohol content? Are there some that already respect the parameters?

Yes, of course. A Dry Martini, for example, cannot be made Low Abv with the same characteristics but can be revisited in a less alcoholic way. To answer the second question, however, in the world of drinks there are already low-alcohol cocktails. The Gin Tonic, for example, has 11% abv, the Tom Collins 9.5% abv and the Piña Colada only 8% abv.

Have you noticed more attention on this type of cocktail in Italy or abroad?

In recent years, the gap that existed until then is narrowing. In many countries, they serve low-alcohol drinks, perhaps also thanks to the historical moment where conscious drinking and the concept of healthy are very important and consequently appreciated. Today, it is quite normal to read a menu and find the alcohol content listed next to the recipe. Regardless of where you are, this trend is becoming very common and low-ABV drinking is common from east to west and from north to south of the globe.

I want to create a low-alcohol cocktail from scratch. What precautions should I take? Are some spirits more suitable than others? How can I tone down the probable greater sweetness of the final result?

The products are all valid and usable. The concept of creating a low-alcohol drink must be based on the use of studied and calculated ingredients in the recipe. No one prevents you from using a distillate: simply through some apps you will find calculation systems to know the perceived alcohol levels of a drink. An important note is to consider the ice, an important element because when it dissolves it will dilute the drink, lowering its alcohol content. I therefore recommend selecting very high-quality ice and, as regards the recipe, using alcohol-free products such as juices, soft drinks, syrups, alcohol-free distillates.

What do you think of the new non-alcoholic 'distillates'?

I believe they are the new frontier of mixing. Obviously they must be studied and understood before being used because, if you do not know how to dose and use them, they can disappear in a recipe or, even worse, significantly affect the cost of the drink. Today the market sees dozens of them and of all flavors. I personally use some in my recipes and I must say that there are very interesting ones. They can also be used in the preparation of mocktails, drinks without any presence of alcohol.

How many years have you been Rum Barista at Ron Matusalem? Why did you choose to leave the bar and what activities are you currently doing for the company?

At the beginning of 2019, I was contacted by the Matusalem team to see if I was interested in a job offer. At that time, I needed to find new stimuli for professional growth in my work and, after 26 years behind the bar counter, I thought it was a great opportunity. That day, I flew from Milan to Madrid after listening to the job offer that had been presented to me. The role was that of Rum Barista at an international level for and it involved a continuous commitment to travel, which I already supported at the time, visits and support to our distributors around the world, trainings, masterclasses, guest nights, promoting the brand and supporting bars and bartenders by sharing useful information with them to make the best use of our product. Upon my return, I immediately accepted the offer and today, almost two years later, I believe I have made a fantastic choice for a company and for a job that I love.

How does your concept of mixing marry with a spirit like rum, which has 40 degrees?

Very good because once you understand how to create a low-alcohol cocktail you can also obtain it with the use of products such as Rum, Whisky etc. In Matusalem we have embraced this concept of creating low-alcohol drinks for two years now and several of our recipes see the use of different ingredients or techniques together with the study of food pairing which for us is of enormous importance for creating recipes obtaining very pleasant and interesting aromas for our customers.

What do people drink abroad? Are there certain cocktails/flavors that are popular in certain geographic areas?

Nowadays, all over the world people travel and taste new flavors. Surely, the biggest differences are found in the way of drinking between one country and another. As in Italy we love the bitter taste, in the East they prefer the sour but, even better, the difference is noted in the consumption of one product - gin, rum, vermouth, etc ... - rather than another. In Taiwan, for example, I noticed a notable consumption of whiskey-based drinks, in Singapore of very structured and aromatic cocktails. In the end, social media and low-cost travel have shortened the distances and thus minimized this gap between the consumption methods. The important thing is that people finally drink and can distinguish being able to drink excellent cocktails.

Has the world of mixology grown abroad more than here?

I would say, more generally, that the world of mixology has grown everywhere. If until a few years ago the only big cities that saw mixology grow were NY and London, today we see Italy right alongside them. That's not all; cities like Taipei, Singapore and Bangkok are evolving a lot, an indication of a very important growth movement in the world of mixology. As an Italian, I consider our country as one of the points of reference for the world of cocktails, in fact, it is enough to travel around our cities and see how many interesting and top-notch bars we come across. For us who started this job almost 30 years ago, the growth we have seen in the sector is incredible.

The third main activity that sees you as the protagonist is Cocktail Art, a Facebook group for industry insiders, with more than 15,000 members, in which only photos (without comments) of cocktails are published. Who inspired you to create it and how is it managed?

Cocktail Art is and always will be a wonderful hobby for me. Born in 2010, this Facebook group now has a small community of over 16K followers from dozens of countries around the world who share their works of art 24/7, bringing our database to about 33,000 photographs. I created this group with the intent of sharing visual images of drinks, in order to inspire colleagues from all over the world to create new and increasingly beautiful presentations, without having to dwell on technicalities and useless questions. Probably, its small success and longevity are due to its simplicity, since the well-defined rules make it a healthy and inspiring environment. There is also a small team that filters the contents daily, checking that these rules are respected as much as possible. Currently still growing, even after 10 years, Cocktail Art has recently seen the help of Shane Eaton, a long-time friend, a cocktail enthusiast and, like me, an avid traveler, to bring always new photographic content from all over the world.

Courtesy images Library Culinary, credits Pasquale Formisano[:]