Italian Inspired Cocktail Menu Created by Newly Appointed Lead Bartenders at Macchialina

Longtime Miami Beach gem, Macchialina, debuts a new cocktail menu after the promotion of John Cooper and Jennifer White to Lead Bartenders. The new cocktail menu will feature cocktails that take a creative approach to Italian tradition.

The new menu launched on February 5th and was created by both Cooper and White. Cooper is a level one sommelier and professional brewer. White, in addition to her role at Macchialina is also beverage consultant and sommelier for Tiger Bar Exotic Eats and Champagne Room as well as Firefly Kitchen. Together they put together a stellar menu featuring 14 unique cocktails.

“We want our cocktail menu to match the simplicity of our dinner menu, where we let the wonderful ingredients and behind the scenes techniques shine,” Jacqueline Pirolo, the restaurant’s managing partner and beverage director.  

The new cocktail menu is broken down into four sections. 

To Start features cocktails that are meant as aperitifs or easily crushable drinks like the Pink Sbaglitato made with rosé vermouth, caperitif, and Chiarli Vecchia Modena lambrusco or the I Wish I Was a Highballer made with Glenlivet Founders Reserve, Zucca, Fever Tree soda, and smoked rosemary.

Shaken & Refreshing is a collection of light cocktails that are perfect for sipping like the Padron My French made with Lillet Blanc, Absolut Elyx, heirloom pineapple amaro, Crème de Framboise, and Absinthe mist or the Havana Conference made with Havana Club Añejo Clásico, Velvet Falernum, Fernet Branca, pineapple cordial, and lime.

Stirred & Direct is for those who appreciate a spirit forward cocktail. This section includes the Don Caper martini made with olive oil washed Bombay Sapphire, Cocchi Americano, and caper berry and the Baker’s Boulevardier made with Smooth Ambler Contradiction, Lucano, Banane du Brésil, chocolate bitters, and salted chocolate banana leather.

To Finish features an delicious after dinner drink. The Caffe Freddo is made with Montenegro, Anglisco Blanco, coffee, house made orange bitters, and whipped cream.

Thoughtfully curated and named, each drink pays homage to the restaurant’s Italian roots. Cooper explained that while making this cocktail menu, they wanted to use ingredients that were as important to the bar as the tomatoes are to Chef Pirolo’s pomodoro. When it came to naming the drinks there’s a mix of word play and history, like the Baker’s Boulevardier, which is a negroni variation with an added bit of banana and chocolate bitters, and the substitution of Lucano for Campari, rounds it out and ties together the theme of a “bakers” boulevardier; Lucano is an Amaro that was started by a baker in the early 1900s in the back of a bakery. 

Every cocktail at Macchialina is an experience that’s meant to be paired with the delicious pasta and other Italian delights prepared by Pirolo and his team. This South Beach favorite is always a solid choice when looking for a great night out in Miami.

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