Andrea Civettini is the co-founder of Galileo in Barcelona. He makes us two cocktails, one with Bourbon and Mushrooms Tincture and the second with Vodka and Banana Cold Brew.
Andrea introduce yourself
Hello, I am Andrea Civettini, born in Brescia, Italy. Right after graduating from high school, I decided to travel the world. As soon as I turned 18 years old, I moved to Australia, where I started working in the hospitality industry. Then in Barcelona in 2016, where I began working at Paradiso, and it was there that bartending became my absolute passion. I moved to Vancouver, Canada, in 2017, where I studied and experimented with several cocktails and won the national Canadian cocktail competition in the event “Science of the cocktail”. I returned to Barcelona and Paradiso in 2018. The same year, I won the global cocktail competition “The Vero Bartender”. In February 2020, I opened Galileo, a cosy cocktail bistro that creates a gastronomic experience combining cocktails and north Italian-inspired tapas.
The classic you want to show us
Umami
25ml of Makers Mark Bourbon Fat Washed with Pluma Iberica
25ml of Mancino Vermouth Rosso
25ml of Campari
10ml of Sake
5ml of Frangelico
4 dashes of Mushrooms Tincture
2 dashes of Salt
The bar you dream of
I dream of a bar that is always busy, open day and night, with food offered and good coffee too. I dream of working with a farm so that we can help with both costs and product quality.
What do you do in your time off
I enjoy travelling to places I’ve never been, exploring gastronomy and art. I also like to hike a lot, whenever I can; I’m a big fan of nature.
The spirit you like the most
I like to work with gin a lot because of its versatility. It gives me complete freedom to express my creativity, both with strong and refreshing drinks.
What makes a good cocktail
In my opinion, a good drink needs to be, of course, balanced, served at the right temperature and dilution, but it also needs to go according to the place where it’s drunk; I wouldn’t drink a Dry Martini in a tiki bar or an Eggnog in a beach bar. Talking about creative cocktails, I always like to taste new flavours and discover new ingredients through cocktails. I also enjoy a good, clever presentation and garnish game.
What ingredient do you enjoy using in cocktails
As a good Italian, I like to use a wide range of citrus fruits, from lemons to bergamots and blood oranges to chinottos and the more exotic ones like yuzus and kumquats. The perfect mix of volatile aromas, sweetness, acidity and bitterness. Nowadays, with all the vanguard techniques we can use to achieve the flavours we want, sky is the limit.
The signature cocktail you want to show us
Krater
50ml of K1 Vodka infused with Banana
30ml of Banana Cold Brew
10ml of Banana Oleo
5ml of Burnt Citrus Peels Syrup
Where do you think we need to go to interview another bartender
Stay here in my second hometown, Barcelona. I would suggest you to interview Dean Shury from 14 de la Rosa, Magel from Piñata, Tom Godfrey from Foco or Marc Pinotti from Marlowe.