We recently spoke with Bruno Vanzan, one of the best-known Italian bartenders, by Iovem, the first alcoholic product he launched on the market, on 1 March 2019. At the beginning of 2023, the great ambition of the Roman professional - thanks to the support of Adriano Costigliola he was born in Mariani liqueur factory – has created another innovation in the bar industry. It's about Black Sinner, a coffee liqueur, which aims to completely rewrite the dictates of this highly traditional product.
The Black Sinner project
After an absolute debut in the mixing industry, the Bruno Vanzan-Adriano Costigliola-Liquorificio Mariani trio has developed an alcoholic recipe that already exists on the market, but is certainly unique from a qualitative point of view. In February 2023, after work that took over two years of research, it was put into production Black Sinner, a coffee liqueur born from an intuition of Bruno Vanzan.
“Coffee is a great passion of mine and I have explored it a lot over the last 10 years, collaborating with experts and companies in the sector. Analyzing the market, I saw that there was a big void: a completely natural liqueur." From here was born the idea of creating an innovative, albeit traditional, and high quality product, made with two varieties of 100% Arabica coffee, coming from Ethiopia and Colombia. The Sidamo variety comes from the African state, delicate, floral and citrusy, and from the South American state, the Colombia Superiore variety, of great value and refinement. The mixture is purchased raw, roasted in Lombardy, infused in water and then mixed with alcohol and a small part of sugar, without artificial flavors or colourings. The result is a liqueur with an alcohol content almost double that of Iovem – 27% vol. – which therefore lends itself to being consumed mainly neat, rather than mixed.
The meaning of the name and its consumption
“Black Sinner is a name with a negative connotation - in English means black sinner – to which we wanted to give a positive meaning. In this case, one sins by simply drinking it, neat or mixed”. If smooth it gives its best, on the rocks, in the freezer, Black Sinner it also lends itself perfectly to being used in signatures or to revisiting classics, such as the Espresso Martini, which with the sole addition of moka coffee becomes the Moka Martini.
Here is an example of a twist on classic recommended by Bruno Vanzan: the Manhattan with coffee.
Recipe:
- 4 cl Rye Whiskey
- 2 cl Black Sinner coffee liqueur
- 3 drops of angostura
- 1 cl Red Vermouth
Marketing
“Iovem's experience helped us a lot in the production of Black Sinner. We had all the steps addressed previously - the search for a bottle, the cap, the label - in mind. As a result, we were able to launch the product first on the market, even though the search for a perfect recipe took us a long time." And, in hindsight, it's safe to say the time was well spent, as the World Liqueur Awards named Black Sinner the best coffee liqueur in the world.
“The primary objective for Black Sinner is to communicate the quality of the coffee and the naturalness of the recipe”. It is no coincidence that on social media the choice made was to describe the liqueur with a very different, artisanal slant, as if it were a product of great tradition, which coffee liqueur actually is.
“As an entrepreneur, I can say that you never stop learning. I owe a lot to Iovem and Black Sinner. I am a very ambitious person, who even today is not satisfied, despite having already achieved many results. I want to continually inspire people through my work and with Iovem and Black Sinner I'm trying to do that."
Who is Bruno Vanzan
Bruno Vanzan began his career at the age of 17 in a bar on the outskirts of Rome, after years of apprenticeship he decides to dedicate himself completely to the world of mixology and flair bartending. There are as many as 200 competitions in which he participates at an international level, becoming world champion twice. In 2017 he founded BV Holding, a container designed by Bruno Vanzan that speaks 360° about beverage. A group of companies capable of satisfying the needs of the market by focusing on fundamental values such as professionalism, quality of services, research and development. Academy, catering, production of professional equipment dedicated to the world of bars, consultancy and much more. In 2019 he founded the IOVEM Spirits Group, a company dedicated to the production of alcoholic products with which he launched IOVEM and in 2023 Black Sinner. These are the activities that see engaged Bruno Vanzan in his daily life. With a total of 800,000 thousand followers on social media Bruno Vanzan is one of the most followed bartenders in the world.
