When you start talking about cocktails, in my opinion, Italy doesn’t get enough attention. Pour me an Aperol Spritz or a Negroni, I’m pretty much in herbal bitter nirvana. Those are cocktails most of you know about, and they’re well-balanced, easy to drink, and easy to love.
On our most recent trip to Italy, we discovered a bar that takes Italian cocktails to a new hemisphere, and I can’t stop thinking about it. I’m talking about an amazing little craft cocktail experience named The Mayday Club. Its a little hard to find, like many things in Florence, due to the fact that it resides in one of hundreds of twisty cobbled streets in the heart of the city. Its absolutely worth your while and inevitable wandering, and should go on everyone’s must-visit list. At least if you like craft cocktails, and have any idea what’s cool.
“At Mayday you can find alchemy, music and liquid distillers. More than a club, it is an artisans’ place, where everything, even beer, is handmade. Mayday uses natural, niche, non-commercial materials. In fact, products come from organic farms, already selected for you, which are then broken down, mixed and with the right taste notes calibrated to your pleasure.”
– Mayday Club Owner, Marco Arduino
Why You Need to Go
If that description didn’t get to you, let me give you a few more reasons. In my humble opinion, each one of them would make it worth a stop on its own. The combination has officially catapulted it to “Favorite Bar In The World” on my list. I’m serious, it ousted Quinary in Hong Kong for my #1 spot.
It should be stated that what makes a bar truly worth fan-girling over, in my opinion, is not just a cool vibe and killer drinks. It needs to have enough personality to stand out, and it can’t be trying too hard to be liked. In short, I guess my Wyoming girl roots are showing a bit, because I will always choose a bar with a hint of dive to it over a sleek, sterilized hot spot. Why? Because they are more authentic, and always more fun. Mayday Club delivers personality in spades, and also boasts some of the best cocktails I’ve had in years.
5 reasons you need to have a drink at The Mayday Club:
1 The owner and master mixologist is a former master perfumer. He calls himself an alchemist, and that’s a description I can get behind. Not only are these cocktails seriously a taste bud explosion, they reminded me of being in the perfume shops of Egypt and Milan with their combination of spiced, herbal, and floral notes you could both taste and smell.
2 Part two of the first reason: the owner and his staff make everything but the base liquors in house. You read that right. All of the beers, bitters, tinctures, syrups, garnishes, and other components of every single cocktail is designed and batch crafted in-house. You haven’t tasted cocktails like these before, I guarantee it.
3 Part 3 of the first reason. The bartenders will recommend and/or create any and every cocktail you can dream of, based on your own individual tastes. I know, most bartenders are skilled at a “bartender’s choice” option. Trust me on this when I tell you that at The Mayday Club, they have this down to a science and an art.
4 The funky, alchemist’s fantasy decor. Around every corner is a visual cocktail. I promise you won’t get bored. You might even learn something about perfumeries, alchemy, or early 20th century science.
5 The music. Italian jazz in the front. Bavarian polka in the restroom. And modern alternative behind the bar. It shouldn’t work, but it does. As a matter of fact, the music is half the reason we went back 4/4 nights in Florence, and not just 3.
There you have it. I guess its pretty on-point that my “City as a Verb” in Florence begins with a cocktail bar recommendation, but that’s just me. I enjoyed this establishment so much, I also spent a few months perfecting a cocktail that hints at my favorite drink from our visits to The Mayday Club. Check it out for an American/Italian mashup that certainly won’t make you think you’re drinking the same Old Fashioned.
And please, have a drink at the Mayday Club if you’re ever in Florence. Let me know what you ordered, and if you liked it.
XOXO,
