Farmacopea Popolare in Parabita: Andrea Santantonio’s Spirits of the South

Where local botanicals, small-batch craft, and the flavour of Salento come together

At Palazzo Piccinno, part of our way of welcoming guests is sharing the people, flavours, and small local worlds that shape daily life in Parabita. Not only places to visit, but makers, rituals, and products that reveal the character of the town in a more intimate way.

Farmacopea Popolare is one of those worlds.

Created by Andrea Bolla, Farmacopea Popolare is a small-batch spirits project based in Parabita, producing gin, bitter, and vermouth inspired by southern botanicals, old local remedies, and the landscape of Puglia. For us, it is more than a local label. It is part of the flavour of home here.

We first met Andrea — or Andrew Ball, as we call him — on an ordinary day in the piazza. He approached us with a small smile, a spark in his eyes, and a simple question: “Do you want to try the best gin in town?” We did.

And that moment became the beginning of a friendship, a collaboration, and one of our favourite rituals at Palazzo Piccinno.

Andrea is from Matino, but the small workshop behind Farmacopea Popolare sits here in Parabita, just a few steps from the Palazzo. Over time, we became neighbours, then collaborators, then friends. Today, his spirits are part of the way we share local flavour with our guests.

A local project rooted in the South

Andrea named his project Farmacopea Popolare as a tribute to the old remedies of the South — not the kind found in formal pharmacies, but the wisdom passed quietly through kitchens, gardens, fields, and family habits. It is a name that carries memory, but the work itself feels entirely present.

His spirits are rooted in that same philosophy: simple ingredients, carefully chosen botanicals, patience, balance, and a deep respect for the land they come from.

In a region more often associated with wine and olive oil, Farmacopea Popolare offers something slightly different without ever feeling disconnected from place. These bottles still belong to Puglia. They still speak the language of the South. They simply do it through distillation.

The gin

Andrea’s gin was the first bottle we tasted — the one he held in the piazza the day we met.

It remains the spirit most closely tied to our first impression of his work: bright, aromatic, distinctive, and unmistakably local. Built around wild juniper, citrus peel, and botanicals shaped by Mediterranean scrub and southern heat, it does not try to imitate the language of London dry gin or alpine distilling traditions.

It tastes like here.

There is something in it that recalls warm stone after sunset, herbs crushed between your fingers, pine, citrus, and the dryness of the southern landscape. It feels both familiar and slightly rebellious, grounded in place without becoming predictable.

For guests at Palazzo Piccinno, this gin is often the first introduction to Farmacopea Popolare — not only as a spirit, but as a flavour of Parabita itself.

The bitter

Andrea’s bitter is one of the clearest expressions of his style: sharp, clean, botanical, and deeply tied to Puglia’s wild plants and windswept landscape.

It draws on the tradition of southern amari, but feels lighter and more energetic than many classic versions. The bitterness is precise rather than heavy. There is herbal depth, a lively citrus edge, and a freshness that makes it work beautifully both on its own and in cocktails.

It is the kind of bottle that feels modern without losing its roots.

Served in a spritz or as part of a longer aperitivo, it carries exactly the sort of flavour we love most: southern, aromatic, and quietly full of character.

The vermouth

Perhaps the most poetic of the three, Andrea’s vermouth feels like a slow conversation between wine, herbs, roots, citrus, and spice.

It is aromatic without becoming perfumed, warm without becoming heavy, and layered in a way that rewards attention. You can taste the countryside in it: dried herbs, sun on vines, subtle bitterness, a trace of earth, and a softness that lingers.

It is also the kind of vermouth that does not need a cocktail to justify itself. It stands comfortably on its own.

Together, the gin, bitter, and vermouth form a small but complete world — a Farmacopea in the truest sense: a collection of flavours rooted in devotion, place, and a very personal way of seeing the South.

Why these bottles matter to us

We serve Andrea’s spirits at Palazzo Piccinno because they feel naturally connected to the world we want to offer our guests.

Not because exclusivity sounds elegant, but because these bottles belong here. They are made nearby, shaped by local botanicals, and created by someone whose work is part of the cultural life of the town. In Andrea’s process, we recognise something we value deeply ourselves: the choice to move slowly, pay attention, and care about the person on the other side of the experience.

For guests staying with us, discovering Farmacopea Popolare is another way of understanding Parabita through taste. These are not anonymous labels placed on a shelf. They are part of the local fabric. Serving them allows us to offer something more rooted, personal, and specific to this place.

Over time, Andrea has become part of our daily life too. We cross paths in the piazza, exchange ideas, and watch our friendship continue to shape the atmosphere of the Palazzo in small ways. Sharing his spirits with guests feels like sharing a side of Parabita that is easy to miss unless someone opens the door to it.

Why Farmacopea Popolare matters in Parabita

Parabita is a small town, but it holds more creativity than people often expect. Andrea’s work is proof of that.

Farmacopea Popolare shows how something contemporary can emerge from a very local context without losing humility or depth. His workshop is small, but what it contains is expansive: a way of translating Puglian botanicals, memory, and landscape into flavour.

In that sense, his spirits feel new, but not disconnected. They carry the patience of the South, the temperament of the countryside, and the inventiveness of someone who understands that tradition is not something to preserve behind glass. It can also be transformed.

This is why we are proud to share Farmacopea Popolare with our guests. It is one more way of saying: look closer. Salento is full of small worlds, small makers, and small miracles — many of them just around the corner.

Discovering local flavour through Palazzo Piccinno

At Palazzo Piccinno, we always try to create a stay that feels connected to the place around it. That means not only beautiful spaces and thoughtful service, but also access to the people and products that give Parabita its identity.

Farmacopea Popolare is part of that promise.

Whether guests encounter Andrea’s spirits in a cocktail at the Palazzo, ask us where to buy a bottle in town, or simply hear the story behind the label, they are discovering something real and local — a flavour that could only come from here.

And for us, that is what hospitality should do: not flatten a place into something generic, but bring its cultural texture closer.

Practical Information

• Location: Parabita, Puglia — just minutes from Palazzo Piccinno

• Founder: Andrea Bolla

• Products: Small-batch gin, bitter, and vermouth inspired by local botanicals and southern flavour traditions

• Where to enjoy it: At Palazzo Piccinno in selected cocktails designed to showcase Andrea’s spirits. Many local bars in town are also happy to serve cocktails made with Farmacopea Popolare

• Where to buy it: Available in local shops such as Salentusole and Dispenseria in Parabita

• The photographs in this story were captured by our dear friends Anja and Sandro from WeAreOyster, whose eye for quiet beauty mirrors the way we experience Salento.