Campari Group’s Grand Marnier liqueur brand has announced a three-part video series entitled ‘The Grand Encounter: Behind the Bar’ that features three leading international bartenders.
The bartenders include Canada’s Hugo Togni, co-owner of Number 1 Bar, Takuma Watanabe, the owner of two New York bars Martiny’s and the recently-opened L’Americana, and the New Orleans-based cocktail consultant Deniseea Head.
Carina Soto Velasquez, the Colombian-born co-founder of Paris-based restaurant group Quixotic Projects, will present each episode, quizzing her guests on how contrasting elements across beverage alcohol can be brought together. They will also discuss a range of other topics, such as contemporary takes on classic cocktails, the cultural impact of dive bars and the global importance of Parisian culture.
The Grand Encounter will air on the brand’s Instagram page as well as on Campari Academy’s website and YouTube channel over the next five months, starting this week. The first episode, ‘Paris + The World’, features Hugo Togni exploring what makes Grand Marnier, and Hugo, so Parisian.
“Working with Grand Marnier on this video series has been very insightful, showing how you can nourish our bar industry by being authentic to yourself and breaking existing standards to bring meaningful experiences to the community,” said Velasquez. “As a bar entrepreneur myself, being able to interview these incredible minds on their journeys is quite special. I can relate to their experiences, and it’s always very inspiring to see how bartenders keep pushing this industry forward.”
In Campari Group’s most recent set of financial results for the first six months of 2024, Grand Marnier saw its sales increase by 13.3%, driven by a healthy performance in the US.
