Bar Convent Berlin from Gin Italy’s Point of view

The Bar Convent Berlin is the most important, the best studied event about the beverage industry of the World.

It’s not the numbers that makes it so (11,064 paying visitors, according to the data of FKM Society of Voluntary Control of Fair and Exhibition Statistics, an agency that certifies visitors at trade shows), but it’s the care dedicated to the research of highest quality possible.

There were problems, admitted and promptly resolved by the organization in real time, due to a number of unexpected visitors, but the BCB is a constant search for interesting content for the visitor.

This is its strength, this is well recognizable, it’s a show with an ethic behind it, a successful trade event, with a precise and clever vision.

The tenth edition saw a growth in exhibitors, brands and visitors, beyond all expectations, the participants could choose from dozens of quality seminars and very in-depth (very crowded were, among others, those of the Italians Mauro Mahjoub, Fulvio Piccinino, Giuseppe Gallo, Leonardo Leuci, Antonio Parlapiano, a dream team of enviable excellences) and an endless supply of cocktails prepared ad hoc at the booths of each brand. In practice, impossible to try everything, impossible to know everything, attend every event, taste every delicacy.

The Gins presented at the Bar Convent Berlin were more than 300, available in a hundred stands, which means a possible choice of Gin-based cocktails really endless, all crafted by expert and friendly bartenders, there to enhance the taste, the recipes of the products; a paradise.

Considerable was also the research about the design of the stands, those of the big brands as well as those of small but aggressive brands: I particularly appreciated the booth of TheGin Guild, with a list of remarkable Gins (Brighton Gin, Gin Blackdown Sussex, 6 O’clock Gin, City of London Distillery, Cotswolds, East London, Jensen’s, Juniper Green and Warner Edwards), but also the one from Finland (Helsinki Dry Gin e Kyrö Distillery, for the Gins), dimostrating that making group apparently pays. It would be a dream to see a stand of Italian Gins, collaborating in similar ways. An idea for the BCB 2017?

A real treat for producers, are the seminars of Distill Ventures, the incubator of start-ups of the beverage industry.

The list of prominent figures is long and superfine, from Dale DeGroff down. I chose to interview who for me was the most important, one who over the years have I asked for information and who’s always been available, one of those who actively contributed to the raise of the quality in the world of Gin, Mr. Angus Winchester, former Tanqueray Brand Ambassador. A chat about the behind the scenes, which with his impeccable style has provided substantial inputs.

The Bar Convent Berlin is the people you meet: there is a relaxed atmosphere, you can speak in a free way, as pointed out by Luca Pirola, the organizer of the biggest event in the world based on Gin (The Gin Day Milan): thank you to those with whom I traded gossip and opinions, for making my experience memorable.