Close

What’s amaro? No, it’s not what you get when the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie. That’s amore. (Thanks, Dean!) That bitter liqueur your old-school Italian relatives used to drink after a big meal? Yes, friends, that is amaro — and NPR’s All Things Considered reports that it’s getting an “American revival.” Author Brad Thomas Parsons, who w...

1676

By Rosie Schaap Don't be bitter, we're told. But in American cocktail culture — especially its most rarefied, la-di-da precincts — bitterness has become a signifier of sophistication and discernment. A decade ago, bar patrons who wished to make it clear that they weren't into the sweet stuff might have requested something on the dry side or the so...

1168

By Lisa Futterman   Sometimes when two people love each other, they get together and make an amaro out of arugula. Italian-style amari, those classic bittersweet digestive liqueurs, have been cropping up on cocktail menus. Served neat to be sipped after dinner or shaken and stirred into all sorts of cocktails, amaro is an of-the-moment spirit.  ...

937

Who would have thought the artichoke could garner such interest in the U.S. cocktail community? As Italian drink culture and tradition - from the aperitivo to amari - infiltrates drink rituals stateside, Campari America mounts a new campaign in the battle for bitter: Cynar® 70 Proof. Double the intensity and proof of original Cynar, the bartender-b...

856

By Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya The lowdown: Before becoming commercialized in Italy in the 1840s, fernet, an aromatic bitter that's considered a sub-sect of Italian amaro, put down roots in medicine. One of its key ingredients, myrrh, has been used medicinally for thousands of years (also makes a great gift for a potential lord and savior).   When it...

788

Amaro is Italy's bittersweet export that's all the rage. "Amaro," the word for "bitter" in Italian, is also a broad and loosely defined category of bittersweet Italian-born herbal spirits flavored through maceration. While consistently enjoyed in Western Europe for hundreds of years, only recently has American interest and excitement in amaro renew...

1453

The introduction of Averna and Braulio amaros to its American arm follow the Italian company's purchase of Fratelli Averna for €103 million in April last year.   The Averna brand was introduced to Campari's UK distribution arm, J. Wray and Nephew UK, in September. Previously it was distributed by Instil Drinks.   Read more   Source: http://ww...

848

My first book, Bitters: A Spirited History of a Classic Cure-All, came out in 2011, and whether it was a case of prescience or serendipity, its publication coincided with a bitters boom that was taking hold in bars across America. As with any popular resurgence, there's bound to be a backlash.   Whether they were housemade blends or new releases...

607

Say hello to Fernet Branca, one of Italy's most famous amari. Made by the Fratelli Branca Distillerie, the alluringly herbaceous liquor with its distinctly bitter taste and spicy finish was invented in 1845. There are other brands of Fernet, but Fernet Branca is the big daddy of them all, and the formula of herbs and spices such as saffron, myrrh,...

1106

by Deidre Schipani   Amaro (singular), amari (plural) is a bitter Italian liqueur whose origins go back centuries to the times of herbal tonics and elixirs. Macerations of herbs, botanicals, seeds, roots, barks and spices were blended into grape brandy or wine bases, then aged, filtered and served in small portions as both an aperitivo or digesti...

1017