The only thing better than spending a week absolutely anywhere along the Amalfi Coast is a week on the Amalfi Coast during Amalfi Coast Cocktail Week.
Yes, it’s a thing and perhaps more importantly, it’s the latest in a series of action-packed weeks devoted to Italian drinks and culture headed up by Paola Mencarelli. Since launching Florence Cocktail Week in 2016, she and her team have raised the profile of the bars and some might say, the standard of cocktails on offer, not only in Florence but Venice, Tuscany and Cortina d’Ampezzo.
Now it’s time for the bars along the Amalfi Coast to have their moment in the spotlight. If you’re holidaying or indeed living in and around Vietri sul Mare, Cetara, Maiori, Minori, Ravello, Amalfi, Praiano or Positano from 23rd to 29th September you’ll be able to enjoy an array of cocktails in select hotels and bars in the region.
On the menus throughout the week, each venue will be offering three specially devised cocktails: there’s the signature drink, one that captures the spirit of each bar; a Cocktail RiEsco a Bere Italiano – a cocktail made with Italian products, and a Cocktail Campania, featuring ingredients from the Campania region.
As well as the drinks, there are all kinds of activities planned, including masterclasses, guest shifts with national and international talent with a focus on Campanian bartenders working in Italy and abroad, plus opportunities to sample spirits paired with food at the Dining with the Spirits, Pizza with the Spirits and Pastry with the Spirits events.
Planning a cocktail festival across multiple locations is no mean feat but in true Paola style, it’s a mission that she and her team are more than ready to take on. After being invited to organise the event, she spent a good chunk of 2023 inspecting, researching, and scouting the grand hotels and the best cocktail bars in the region before pouring her energy into setting up the programme for the inaugural ACCW. “Amalfi Coast Cocktail Week is the same as the other Italian Cocktail Weeks,” she explains. “but I decided to modulate the week according to different criteria, to create a travelling event spread across multiple locations in order to give the right emphasis to the quality of the great structures of this fantastic land.”
The event takes in six different locations, kicking off in Vietri Sul Mare (22nd) with the opening party, before setting off to Cetera, Maori and Minori (23rd & 24th) where Salvatore ‘the Maestro’ Calabrese will host the Maestro Challenge. Then it’s on to Ravello (25th & 26th); Amalfi (27th & 28th), rounding up in Praiano and Positano (29th).
Participating bars:
Cetara
BARcheREMI
Maiori
Casa Ferraiuolo
Matinée Cocktail Bar & Restaurant
Vista Lounge Bar Hotel Club Due Torri
Minori
Pasticceria Sal De Riso
Ravello
Al San Domingo
Bar Caruso, Caruso, A Belmont Hotel Amalfi Coast
Cocktail Bar & Bistrot Orizzonte, Hotel Marmorata
Delight Bar, Villa La Rondinaia
Garden Bar Ravello
Lobster & Martini Bar, Palazzo Avino
V Lounge Bar, Villa Cimbrone
Amalfi
Masiniello Art Café
Sea Waves Bar
Signature by Sensi Amalfi Coast Rooftop
Azur Lounge, Hotel Miramalfi
Dei Cappuccini Bar, Anantara Convento di Amalfi Grand Hotel
Terrazza 17, Hotel Marina Riviera
Praiano
Il Pirata
Voce e Notte Sunset Bar, Hotel Le Fioriere
Positano
Fly Rooftop Bar
Franco’s Bar
Aldo’s Cocktail Bar & Seafood Grill, Don’t Worry Music Bar, Le Sirenuse
Gold Sky Lounge O’RO Incanto Lounge, Hotel Villa Franca
Le Petit Murat, Hotel Palazzo Murat
