Amari
Amari is the plural of amaro (Italian for bitter), which is a category of bittersweet liqueurs primarily served as a digestif. Amari come in a wide variety of styles — but most are built around a certain herb, flower, bark, or nut. A typical amaro will be a blend of multiple botanicals, and most rely on very old, secret, family recipes. While many amari are opaque to the point of being nearly black in color, a whole spectrum of colors represents the amari universe — including clear amari. Amari can be consumed neat, on the rocks, or — increasingly — as part of a cocktail.
Top Amari/Amaro Posts:
Jagermeister Manifest
Cynar 70 Liqueur
Campari and Tempus Fugit Gran Classico
I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for some festivities in the form of holiday revelry. Naturally, the holidays mean gift-giving time is nigh, and you’re going to want recommendations for what to wrap up and stash under the tree. As always, this year we want your gift-giving to make a statement, but we…
Read More
Amaro Santoni is new to me, but the recipe dates back to 1961, including 34 ingredients centered around rhubarb and iris — in part a cultural reference to Florence, in part because that’s the taste profile they were going for here. A light, crimson-orange-hued “dolce-amaro aperitivo” lands somewhere in the DMZ between bitter and sweet…
Read More
Liqueurs made for specific cocktails are nothing new. But what about a liqueur distilled to match a particular rye whiskey? Sagamore Spirit recently released their own amaro, and it’s designed to be used in a Black Manhattan alongside their Maryland-style rye. That’s about as specific as they come! In the brand’s own words: Sagamore Spirit…
Read More
New amaro Amante 1530 is billed as “an innovative twist on an old classic,” but when you get down to it, it’s a lot closer to one familiar standby than you’d think. Boasting Sting and Trudie Styler as investors, this Aperol clone is flavored with Italian orange, ginger, and honeysuckle, and it carries the familiar…
Read More
As product names go, Amaricano — an American amaro — is pretty genius. The brainchild of Seattle-based Fast Penny Spirits, the company produces two amari inspired by Italian recipes — one dark, one a bright shade of yellow. Both products support women in business, with 3% of revenues donated to woman-focused nonprofits. So the charitable…
Read More
We last checked in on Asheville’s Eda Rhyne Distilling Company back in 2020 when their young portfolio featured only a trio of impressive herbal liqueurs. Three years and one global pandemic later, these mountain medicine makers have added to their lineup with a handful of new offerings including an RTD and a long-awaited rye whiskey…
Read More
The Meletti Family has been producing spirits since the 1870s, and they are one of Europe’s largest makers of Sambuca and Anisette. More recently, their amaro with its grapefruit and honey profile has become one of the darlings of the modern American cocktail scene. Now another Meletti expression has arrived stateside, Meletti Coffee. Coffee liqueurs…
Read More
Among my hardnosed and surly bartender brethren, Fernet is king… and they have a brand. Before the botanical forearm-tattooed kneecappers come for me demanding loyalty, I promise this particular Fernet will content any Bitterhead. For the uninitiated, Fernets tend to feature a few distinct ingredients that distinguish them from their Amari cousins; chief among them…
Read More
Straightaway Cocktails’ Accompani brand, based in Portland, creates a range of relatively obscure beverages, ranging from vermouth to ready-to-drink amari-based cocktails. Today we look at one of its more enigmatic creations, Mari Gold, an amaro whose key ingredients include Seville orange peel, citron peel, orange blossom, and gentian root. To start with, note that Mari…
Read More
Now in its second year, the Virginia Spirits Expo is expanding to include four different events across the state. I attended the first of these in Charlottesville over the summer where more than two dozen Virginia distillers were on hand to share their labors of love. It was unseasonably warm at Ix Art Park that…
Read More