Getting old, or rather, acquiring awareness because of the time passing, has many positive aspects. You don’t do stupid shit anymore, or if you do it there is a clear will that is no longer driven by chance. As if to say, if I get drunk it’s because I consciously decide not to understand anything anymore, if I lose my way home I no longer hold onto my companions of fortune but I face it with dignity. From the principle of guiltiness to that of responsibility, growing up means also this.

What we don’t like about all this preamble is that sometimes you lose contact with reality. We begin to worry about pressure, ailments, we believe that swallowing five goji berries in the morning with aloe juice for 20 € per centilitre helps us to remain young and immortal. We integrate this discourse into everything and the market, old foxy man, makes a mockery of us. Consider drinking, for example, the subject of these lines. We are willing to spend 12 € for a gin & tonic because there are the botanicals, the influencers who drink it, the marmots who pick up the spices, the eco-friendly packaging, the stories on Instagram and other devils.

I would like to capture the moment in history when the language of marketing and extreme storytelling has declared the end of decent drinking at reasonable prices. Ok smoking, fermentations, vacuums, apnea and triple fractures, there is no discussion in this section about the validity of the good work that is going on in mixology. Here we discuss, even in a somewhat provocative and goliardic way, the possibility to take a step back and choose – always consciously, since we have grown up – to drink a spritz that doesn’t cost 10 € (come on guys, the spritz), a vodka tonic at reasonable prices, a drink without necessarily suffering for it.

We wondered if it’s still possible to drink decently in Milan (we’re not talking about high mixology) without having to put a kidney down. At most the liver. I don’t know about you, but even though I’ve grown up, I tend to drink better, I’m more aware of the products used, I’ve also got tired of throwing away my salary. In these places you go lightheartedly and come home with a heavier wallet. Let’s tell the truth: it’s nice to drink well and responsibly, but still allow us the choice to gulp down cocktails that don’t have a history similar to that of the Iliad. Here you have the army of long drinks, spritzers, drinks, to leave the liver but not the wallet.

Translated by @silaskin