This March, I was blown away by the creativity of some of the best bars in the world. Not only were they making cocktails, but they were saving the planet.

On the 17 and 18th of March 2024, the third edition of the Paradiso Sustainability Summit, organized by Giacomo Giannotti and his team, in partnership with Ketel One Vodka through their Garnished with Good program was held.

Giacomo’s bar Paradiso is ranked one of the best Bars in the world, and he established the Summit three years ago as an exchange of ideas and tools with the aim of raising awareness and making the industry more sustainable.

This year, the event took place at Palo Alto - an indoor and outdoor space chosen for its approach to helping local communities. There were two stages for masterclasses, seminars, and workshops, a marketplace where local organizations showcased their sustainable projects and products, and, of course, pop-ups of all the invited international and local bars serving cocktails all day long!

While I was there I caught up with not only Giacomo, but a few of the other speakers who are my guests on the program today.

Riccardo Rossi and Michele Filip from Rome’s Freni e Frizioni, Paul Voza from Oslo’s Himkok, Vasilis Kyritsis and Dimitris Dafopoulos from Line in Athens, Alexandros Tselepis and Konstantinos Theodorakopoulos from The Bar in Front of The Bar also in Athens, Partick Howley from So Let’s Talk, and last but certainly not least Timothy Etherington-Judge of Avallen Calvados and Healthy Hospo who gives us the place to start with sustainability to have the greatest impact.

It was truly an eye-opening event, and they will most definitely inspire you to do more.

But before I begin, make sure you check out a sampling of all the activities from the summit on my YouTube channel! www.Youtube.com/@lushlifemanual

Up first is, of course, Giacomo our host and founder of this important initiative.

The cocktail of the week is Paradiso’s The Voyage:

INGREDIENTS

• 50 ml Ketel One Vodka
• 25 ml Amaro Santoni
• 25 ml Italicus
• Yogurt blueberries
• Yogurt raspberry

METHOD

• Mix the following ingredients together in a container
• Infuse it for 24 hours in the fridge
• Filter it all through a cheesecloth.
• Then pour it into your chilled martini glass
• Garnish with a jam-filled white chocolate if you have one

You’ll find this recipe and all the cocktails of the week at alushlifemanual.com, where you’ll find some of the ingredients in our shop.

Full Episode Details: https://alushlifemanual.com/paradiso-sustainability-summit-2024

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The butterfly effect is the idea that small things can have non-linear impacts on a complex system. The concept is imagined with a butterfly flapping its wings and causing a typhoon. Our butterfly, in this case, is one small sip of bourbon.

That specific sip of bourbon started off a chain reaction that would see not only the world of drinks but the world at large change forever and I am not exaggerating!

But I am not going to ruin the story. You will have to hear it from one of the co-Founders of Never Say Die Bourbon. Brian Luftman is here on Lush Life to tell you a story that is pretty incredible. You don’t need to be a marketing genius to know that every brand needs a story, but this one you just couldn’t make up and its at the heart of Never Say Die.

Before we begin, you can always watch this episode on Youtube, plus all the other Lush Life episodes as well as a whole lot more; just head to youtube.com/@lushlifemanual that's youtube.com/@lushlifemanual!

Now feet in stirrups, hands on the reins, the gate is about to open with Brian leading the pack!

The cocktail of the week is the Epsom Derby!

INGREDIENTS

• 40ml Never Say Die Small-Batch Bourbon
• 30ml pink grapefruit juice
• 15ml honey syrup
• Garnish: 8-10 mint leaves

METHOD

• Add all ingredients to a shaker with ice
• Shake for 15 seconds
• Strain into a Nick and Nora glass and garnish

You’ll find this recipe and all the cocktails of the week at alushlifemanual.com, plus links to all the ingredients.

Full Episode Details: https://alushlifemanual.com/never-say-die-bourbon-with-brian-luftman

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Become a supporter of A Lush Life Manual for as little as $5 - all you have to do is go to https://substack.com/@alushlifemanual

Lush Life Merchandise is here - we’re talking t-shirts, mugs, iPhone covers, duvet covers, iPad covers, and more covers for everything! And more!

Produced by Simpler Media

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram

Get great cocktail ideas on Pinterest

New episodes every Tuesday, usually!!

I think relaunch is the word of the moment. It is Spring, after all.

Not only will I be relaunching Season 8 of Lush Life, bringing you exciting episodes about sustainability, horse racing, the Beatles, absinthe, and so much more!

But the big news is I have just re-launched my cocktail tours in London’s Soho- Long story but I first started them in Nov 2019 and well we know what happened then.

Now, I am thrilled to say that they are up and running! So next time you are planning a trip to London, check out londoncocktailtours.com!

So, let’s toast to all this relaunching.

Since this time of year is all about apples - this is one of my favorite autumn cocktails (and one I always start the season with!)

It’s the Avallen Autumn Old-Fashioned:

Ingredients

• 30ml / 1 oz Avallen Calvados
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1 dash orange bitters
• Top up with champagne

Method

• Add all of the ingredients (except the champagne) to a cocktail glass
• Give them a quick stir with a teaspoon to dissolve the honey
• Top with champagne
• Add a small orange zest on the side for extra dazzle

You’ll find this recipe, plus all the cocktails of the week, at ALushLifeManual.com.

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Become a supporter of A Lush Life Manual for as little as $5 - all you have to do is go to patreon.com/lushlife.

Lush Life Merchandise is here - we’re talking t-shirts, mugs, iPhone covers, duvet covers, iPad covers, and more covers for everything! And more!

Produced by Simpler Media

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram

Get great cocktail ideas on Pinterest

New episodes every Tuesday, usually!!