Unless you are actually an Italian nonno
the word amaro may not have been on your radar until fairly recently.
Now however, you can't swing a cat in a bar without knocking over a dozen bottles of them.
So what are they and how have they come to dominate the cocktail world?
Hello and welcome to Behind the Bar with me Cara Devine, and an episode
that I've been wanting to do for ages. I may not love amari quite as much as
I love sherry but it's pretty darn close. If you're not that concerned about the ins
and outs of history and definitions then don't worry, I will taste through a few of these very
soon to help figure out which might be the one for you. And I'll also be showing you a
few of my favorite amaro cocktails in our next episode, so if you haven't already then hit the
subscribe button and the notification bell to make sure you don't miss out.
Amari with an "i" is technically the correct pluralization of amaro for any
grammar nerds or Italians out there, and they're actually very difficult to define.
Amaro means bitter in Italian and covers the incredibly wide category of bitter herbal
liqueurs which are made by steeping botanicals in spirits or wine and then adding sugar.
Where as vermouth is defined by wormwood as the bittering agent, amari can be bittered by
any number of things, so wormwood as well but also gentians and cinchona and even rhubarb.
There are some made elsewhere in the world, for instance France and Switzerland but Italy
is the true home and most modern versions like ones made here in Australia are
based on Italian regional variations. Campari and Aperol are among the most famous,
but the range of flavors covered in this category is pretty astounding there's even
some like Cynar which are based on artichokes. Amari were originally made by monks and thought
to be medicinal. Unlike vermouth which are always wine based, amari are more often based
on a distilled spirit such as brandy. That said, amari can be wine based and there's
definitely a bit of a blurred line between the two. So something like Punt e Mes is a vermouth
but with enough kind of bitterness that it's often used and drunk as you would in an amaro.
Amari were also a way of preserving roots and herbs and barks back in the day and this is where
you start to see those regional variations coming in. So for example alpine amari like
Braulio will have juniper and pine notes whereas Sicilian amari like Averna usually have a really
strong citrus element just because that's what was growing in the areas where they're made.
Amari as a category is so versatile that it has you covered from pre-dinner aperitif to night cap.
Generally speaking you're sort of lighter colored amari like Aperol or Suze, which
is actually french but definitely falls in the same flavor category,
they work really well in spritz style drinks to kind of get the appetite going and then darker
amari like the fernet family of which Fernet Branca is definitely the most well-known,
will settle the stomach and ease you off to bed. I know I do keep saying the word bitter but
amari have sugar added to them as well and so there's actually this really
moreish bittersweet base with all of the various botanicals laying flavor on top.
Some of these will have upwards of 30 ingredients so they're honestly a cocktail in themselves
and work really well just on ice or topped up with soda. The fact that they're usually quite
low in abv, although actually not all are- lots of bartenders do shots of Fernet Branca and I always
assumed this was because it was lower in alcohol so they were pacing themselves but it's actually
like 40 percent, so it must just be the cool kid factor- but anyway the lower abv does make
them a great base for lower alcohol cocktails, so you know the Aperol spritz has certainly
done its bit in popularizing the category with many people getting used to the flavor
there and then moving on to kind of stronger tasting Campari in Americanos or negronis.
Because there is such a range of flavours, but still with that balancing bitterness, an easy
way to switch up cocktails is just to change the amaro used or even substitute one in for vermouth.
So the black manhattan is a great variation which switches in Averna instead of vermouth,
giving, as the name would suggest, a darker and more brooding version of the classic.
Or one of my favorites is a white negroni which uses Lillet Blanc and Suze alongside gin for a
lighter and more kind of fragrant and perfumed take on everyone's favorite amaro cocktail.
I am going to preface this with saying that this is obviously very much down to personal
preference, so you know if Aperol spritzes are your all-time favorite then of course
you need a bottle of Aperol, or if your palette leans to the bitter and dark side
then spend your time exploring all of the fernets you can get your hands on.
For me though, these are three really versatile products which will allow you to make a wide range
of amaro spiked drinks. So my number one for your more light and bright style of amaro would be
Suze. This one's actually from France, so you know but definitely falls in that kind of amaro flavor
category. Gentian is the bittering agent here, so kind of a root which is found in the alps.
So the first thing that you'll notice about this one is how bright it is. It's actually
like a really quite sunshine yellow and I do like that you know a lot of other amaros are darker
in color and it kind of means that when you're using them in drinks it can go a little bit murky
and just you know yeah something that would otherwise be kind of
quite bright colored or you know even clear or whatever it goes a bit brown,
so this one is quite nice for keeping a bit more of a summery look on your drink.
It just smells like sunshine and flowers. It's really light and
bright and lifted and perfumed. Obviously got quite a lot of citrus notes in there as
well and then just that little kind of underlying bitterness.
Definitely has a fair amount of sweetness up front you almost think that it's going to land
a bit more like an Aperol and then just right at the end it sort of whacks you with a with a
properly quite kind of grippy and bitter finish, so I really like using it alongside again sort of
I guess flavors which might be more easily overpowered. So something like elderflower
or you know your kind of more delicate gins and things which would just get a bit lost trying
to stand up to a lot of these other ones this will still just kind of do that thing of coming
in having that nice little bitter end, which makes drinks interesting rather than you know
for something that might be quite basic otherwise, almost the way that you know just little dashes of
Angostura or something do where it just underpins and keeps the flavor going for longer, while
also having lots of really kind of fresh herb quite like really bright citrus notes as well.
Delicious.
Montenegro is often called a gateway amaro and it certainly deserves its popularity,
so you know when doing research for this pretty much 90 percent of the articles and things that I
came across said if you can only have one amaro then it should be Amaro Montenegro. A lot of
people really like it because it kind of sits in a bit of a medium sweet bitter, sort of category so
you know still definitely has some darker notes to it, but not too confronting and and has a bit
of sweetness. Honestly I actually prefer Nonino though. So this little guy is a grappa base so
it has this really lovely texture to it and it's just a bit more delicate. In Montenegro you get
a lot of kind of cola notes, which are, which can be really fun to play with, this one has
a really kind of quite bright and fresh tangerine flavor to it while still having a good amount of
kind of woody spices going on as well, so it can work with lighter spirits and darker spirits.
It does have a little bit of that cough medicine thing going on but in a really good way.
Such a lovely texture. I mean this is probably my favorite to just drink on its own as well
as a kind of after dinner thing. I just think that the sweetness and bitterness is really,
is really in balance and even though it does have a bit of sweetness it's not too viscous,
it doesn't coat your mouth at all and then you just get that, yeah,
again lovely lingering bitterness coming through. As I said, it really doesn't not go with anything,
even things like tequila which I do find a little bit harder sometimes to sort of balance out with
with these guys, it can definitely sit alongside with that really kind of bright juicy orange note.
Plus it is a very pretty bottle which I think still always counts.
Then our next one would be Cynar. Again, I do love the design on this
and you've actually got the little artichoke heart on the label it's so 70s looking.
So you're getting a lot more caramel notes in this like this sweetness is there but almost,
you know like a almost kind of burnt way like that sort of again bittersweet thing.
And then, yeah, it's all kind of quite vegetal like leaf almost kind of
damp leafy sort of flavor which I know doesn't sound necessarily super appetizing, but it's the
same sort of thing as you get in whiskies and things when they've been aged in older
casks and it's just, it's interesting, it's just a really interesting flavor. It's not honestly
one that I would tend to just sit and drink by itself, although it does go nicely actually with
some tonic and a little slice of orange in there if you do like things which are quite bitter,
but definitely in other drinks which are you know just needs a little something a little
je ne sais quoi, quite often it's that kind of savoury note that your mouth doesn't even know
that it wants to taste but it really does it makes you want to go back for another sip.
Just a really really interesting flavor and again because it's not really as boozy,
I mean it's definitely got a strong flavor but still doesn't maybe quite sit as much of a punch
in the face as something like fernet. You can use it alongside most things, I mean it's not gonna,
you know, again like a very very delicate gin or something it's probably gonna overpower slightly
but it doesn't have to be sort of your rums and bourbons and more kind of heavy and dark
spirits it can definitely be used just for a little edge in a lot of really fun cocktails.
Now I have stayed quite classic here but there are some really awesome amari style products
being made in Australia and I'm sure elsewhere, so please let me know if you have any local
favorites in the comments and I'll definitely have to do an all Aussie lineup at some point.
Amari and how to use them.
So now you know, and make sure you tune in next week to see some amazing amari cocktails.
According to Paul Beganski and a couple of thousands thumbs up,
I could sell water to a drowning man, let's hope so because Behind the Bar now has
Merch and we're really excited to be able to share it with you.
Check out the link in the description below if you're interested and let's hope Paul is right!