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The history of gin has seen many twists and turns along the way, from fighting diseases, to providing cures for soldiers in foreign lands, to being a public health menace and along the way being refined, with innovative distillation techniques and creative use of botanicals. Though gin is commonly viewed as a British product, its early history can...

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After living in Italy for two years, husband and wife Ryan and Nicole Silver couldn’t leave without a little souvenir. So they purchased and shipped a vintage 1994 Piaggio Ape, a small Italian three-wheeled commercial vehicle, to the United States. After a $30,000 renovation, they’ve transformed it into a mobile bar for Colorado weddings and other...

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After a very successful partnership with the United States Bartender's Guild, the Italian Trade Agency (ITA) is reaching a broader audience by launching another webinar series with industry-renowned trade event Bar Convent Brooklyn (BCB). Due to the current COVID-19 circumstances, the 2020 edition will take place entirely online. Until the trade ca...

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The distillery at Gervasi Vineyard earned four medals in the 2020 Great American International Spirits Competition. The Canton winery-distillery took home platinum, gold, silver and bronze awards, which were announced this month. In all, 79 awards were given. Gervasi's awards: Platinum: Saints Desire, a small-batch cocktail gin distilled with Itali...

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Whether it’s a Spritz, Negroni or Limoncello Collins, these four partners produce Californian-Italian liqueurs suited for any aperitivo and digestivo hour! In the summertime, a steady fog rolls off the Pacific and blankets the terraced hills of California’s Golden Coast, cooling grapevines, orange, and lemon trees. Set back just a few miles from th...

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Amari (literally "bitter" in Italian) are liqueurs (sweetened liquors) that have been bittered and flavored with botanicals. As for the base spirit, well, anything is game: neutral corn spirit, cane distillate, Everclear (popular among home-brewers), even wine. Same goes for the botanical blends — most amari have upwards of 30 botanical ingredients...

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Italy, and its spirits, in the Olympus of wine stars – and not only -. This is what was obtained by Distillaria Nonino, which on January 27, 2020 was awarded the Wine Enthusiast Wine Star Awards, the most important international Wine & Spirits award, in the section that belongs to it, or “Spirit Brand / Distiller of the Year 2019”. An award that ma...

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At the end of a meal, you may reach for a glass of scotch or cup of coffee, but according to some bartenders, what you should be reaching for is an amaro. The Italian category of liqueurs (the word means “bitter” in Italian) is wide ranging, and while they’re often served on their own, they also make for great cocktails. Amari have a long history....

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Back before the American renaissance of amaro and digestifs made the after-dinner drinks de rigueur, Samantha Kincaid and Jon Nodler would finish a meal at their favorite restaurant with a little glass of house-made nocino. Years later, using walnuts they handpicked from a nearby farm, the celebrated chefs made their own big batch of the liqueur, w...

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Because Thanksgiving is a holiday completely dedicated to the act of eating a gigantic meal, it’s an excellent time to begin familiarizing yourself with the wonderful, stomach-soothing tradition of digestivi. Italian dinners often conclude with this final beverage course, starring a subset of bitter herbal liqueurs known as amari. These flavorful q...

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