Amaros (and digestifs)

I can’t imagine Gammel Dansk is that bad but I think I still have the bottle at home so will look.

Tastes like xmas like speculoos or like pine?

thx for the links jaymc!

Unicum has a bottle that looks like someone graduated from wearing drakkar noir.

I can’t imagine Gammel Dansk is that bad but I think I still have the bottle at home so will look.

We have a bottle of Gammel Dansk in our drinks cabinet as a "gift" from some friends' Danish holiday. Suspect the famed botanicals therein to include dandelion milk, baby shampoo and the stuff my parents painted on my fingernails when I was 5 to stop me biting them. It's a lot worse than Unicum imo.

"Rigas Balsam is an acquired taste"

Oh, I think I bought a bottle of this from the Baltic shop in my town just to see what it was. Brown bottle, like some kind of Edwardian ceramic, not much bigger than a test tube? Or is there something else in a similar bottle? It was either Latvian or Lithuanian, with apologies to any Baltic readers for mixing them up.

I found it OK-ish although the other half found it disgusting (more than Unicum but not as much as Gammel Dansk) and I wouldn't buy a bigger bottle, put it that way.

(Not quite on-topic itt, but my favourite thing from the Baltic shop is the Ukrainian birch vodka - Nemiroff brand, I think. Perhaps I should take that to a vodka thread...)

I was at a friend's place on NYE, and he had not only a bottle of Rigas Balsam but also a Chilean amaro I'd never heard of called Araucano. It was pretty good.

jaymc, thanks for those links -- I'll make copious notes before my trip.

xpost Oh I see that araucano in the grocery store. Because of the label I thought it was a fernet or angosturo. How did you drink it?

Just sipped on a bit of it, neat

I guess the title should've been Amari. Like I learned about the singular of pasta shapes here.

It turns out the offending drink was Piratens Besk, which is neither Danish, nor really an aperitif - it’s a wormwood schnapps kind of thing so apologies both to the Danes and the amaro family.

ok so for edification of myself and possibly others i'm going try to taste one amaro a day when i'm home and post a quick tasting note...i mostly use these guys in cocktails and not as sippers so this should be interesting.

first off the shelf is amaro lucano. aroma is more spicy than herbal. distinct menthol note. doesn't taste minty though, tastes more like warm baking spices. lots of cinnamon. fairly sweet, what i'd call light-medium bitterness. pretty think mouthfeel with that syrupy caramel color thing.

I'm into it ^^^. I'll do the same when I come across something new (maybe I can get the araucano tomorrow when I go grocery shopping).

should have been THICK mouthfeel up there

many xposts, jaymc Do you have the Amaro book. I had thought about getting it over the holidays but I thought it might be cocktail recipe heavy which I wasn't so interested in that part of it.

In late summer 2017 I was sitting at the nice restaurant my boyfriend was working at, having an after-his-shift drink with him, and there was a gregarious man down the bar who was on a date with his wife. The man bought my bf and me a shot that he thought was really "the best": half smoky mezcal, and half Montenegro. It is a delicious shot. We had another after he left and verified that yes, this is a delicious drink, and the night was really nice and we had a great time and the drink kind of became our go-to romantic celebratory drink.

We didn't know what the drink was called and so we just called it a Harrison (the gregarious man's name was Harrison). Our enjoyment of the drink around the few restaurants we enjoy has caught on and there's a place up the street from me that has a Harrison on the menu. It's a good drink! Hard to get good mezcal in Canada but anyway yeah

I really want to try this shot and I don't have either of those things.

not going to drink it as a shot but i'll def try it as a 50/50 cocktail

It works well as a sipper with a single cube of ice, can confirm

I was going to write "I have the Amaro book" but I realised I don't, I have "Bitterman's Field Guide to Bitters and Amari" which is 90% about bitters and the amari section is just a 10-page list of brands with tasting notes.

Did you enjoy the book?

it's fine - I already had one book on Bitters (the Brad Parsons one), this didn't really add much on top of that one

lots of "what if Negroni but with Angostura Bitters" type recipes

I got into Amari via Fernet but it turns out the only Fernet I really like is Branca (I have near-full/going-nowhere bottles of Fernet 1882, Fernet Stock and this weird creature). When I left a previous job the leaving gift from my very thoughtful colleagues was a bottle of Rigas Balsam (also going nowhere)...

All-time favourites are probably: Cynar, Meletti, Suze, Fernet Branca. I have some others lying around (Montenegro, Nonino, Campari, Aperol) that only really see cocktail use.

tbh cocktail use is my main interest here, altho I drink Fernet Branca straight

hmmm, yeah I am not interested in any cocktail book. I don't really make cocktails at home and usually will just drink things with soda water if anything. Even the aperol I think is too sweet if I do it with prosecco/spritz so will just use soda water.

Ha, opposite xpost.

i def buy them for cocktails and pulling off specific recipes, what the heck, they're shelf-stable and have cool-looking bottles. i'm not opposed to drinking them straight and should probably do so more often since the shelving unit i use for liquor is pretty much maxed. need to reorganize it and shift some underutilized stuff to the basement shelves asap.

yeah, I can only focus on so much at once and just don't even want to get into trying to keep a full bar at home. 80% of my space goes to wine with the other 20% basically brown spirits.

many xposts, jaymc Do you have the Amaro book. I had thought about getting it over the holidays but I thought it might be cocktail recipe heavy which I wasn't so interested in that part of it.

Yep. I did buy it for the cocktail recipes, which make up about half the book, but there's also a substantial section (maybe about a quarter of the book) that just lists and describes various amari.

this weird creature

Ha, I bought that (Salmiakki Dala) for my brother for Christmas a couple of years ago (though I don't think I realized it was produced by Bittermens).

I had Nardini Tagliatella, which the seller said was a mix of a lot of different tap drippings. It was good, but sweeter than I normally like.

I am doing dry January so no amaro for me this month.

VP we will be around all Feb. so we can have an amari tasting then.

At the grocery store today I also found this other chilean amaro (I did not buy) that was an alpenkrauter? For some reason I can only find a pic on a flickr. The label was cute. https://www.flickr.com/photos/nirvinochile/7423596160

Yes, Yerac, I am down for February amaro tasting! I love Amaros so much. One thing I really like is having it for the last drink of the night, as it calms me down and teaches my brain to stop drinking, unlike most liquors.

Yeah, I don't really know if they help digestion but I drink them too instead of opening a bottle of wine. I mixed the sibilla and the araucano i got last night together.

are we in a trendy amaro moment? overheard a friend-of-friends talking about them on friday night and got some tips on where to buy locally and some recommendations

Hmm maybe. I was shocked when I learned several years ago how popular negronis were in the US and maybe it's a natural side effect of that, going away from fruity/sweet drinks to more savory/bitter. I noticed a lot of US artisanal amari when I was in the wine/spirits stores last year.

they've been bubbling under for a couple years but yeah i think they might be hitting another level based on my own very anecdotal experiences

I've never done tasting notes on an amaro before and I don't have benchmarks here to start from but I went based upon other alcohols.

Araucano ~$10USD in chile
Medium amber brown, clear. On the nose it's very cola, sassafras, clove, cinnamon bark, cocoa powder, vanilla, orange oil, a little bit of menthol. Palate is cinnamon cola, sassafras, allspice, orange peel, woody. Medium+ sugar, medium+ acidity, medium+ bitterness. Medium finish.

next up we got amaro ciociaro. mine is an old bottle i actually i made a special trip to astor wines & spirits for back before this stuff was in wider distribution. back in the day it was a preferred substitute for amer picon for people in the u.s.a. who were trying to make the brooklyn cocktail, though i think there are several more options now.

smells like orange and cloves to me. that holds in the taste as well though there's some brown sugar and another flavor i'd describe as "granulated white sugar" which is interesting. i think of ciociaro as one of the more fruit-forward (well really orange-forward) amari at least among the basic brown ones. there's another one on my shelf coming up that blows it away in that regard but it's still pleasant, with moderate sweetness, light bitterness, and a less gloopy mouthfeel.

I think one of these amaros is the equivalent of smooth move with me. I tried to look it up to see if that was a common side effect. nope.

Indeed, I'm pretty sure I bought the CioCiaro a few years ago to make the Brooklyn and other drinks calling for Amer Picon. I don't know what else is easily substitutable for Amer Picon, though there a few DIY recipes out there. For instance, Jamie Boudreau of Canon in Seattle makes one with a base of Ramazzotti, orange tincture, and orange bitters.

My spouse is in Rome and so far has picked up Diesus and Braulio Riserva and then also some more Sibilla because it is 28euro there (as opposed to the $~50 in the US).

Also got Dell'Erborista (the 70-75cl bottle for 19euro!) and San Marco Sarandrea. I get excited about these things because the main thing I do when I/we travel is look for wine/liquor and spices.

I wish more liqueurs were available in small bottles. I want a taste before I spring for 750 ml.

I think Italy does have amari in mini bottles. I tasted a bunch once at a friend's house. Otherwise the next time you go to a bar and it's relatively slow I would think most bartenders would give you a 1 oz pour to taste especially if you are going to get a cocktail anyway. I sometimes have places do half pours/split glasses for me or a friend if I want to create my own flights of something. But it's usually during quietish times and i always make sure to tip well for the annoyance of extra glasses. And if the bartender is good they will be happy to talk about whatever it is you want to try.

i like to read this thread just for the names of the drinks. idk what most of them are but their names are very soothing!

i have enjoyed several herbal/herbaceous digestifs and love anisette but otherwise i am reading for sentences like My spouse is in Rome and so far has picked up Diesus and Braulio Riserva and then also some more Sibilla because it sounds so idyllic and i need that right now ;)

I think Italy does have amari in mini bottles.

OK I'm actively gonna look for these when we're there

Ha! I know I said it before but they have the prettiest labels. I was going by some of this article about what to look for in Rome. Sadly the San Simone could not be found this trip. That font/typeface *is* great. https://punchdrink.com/articles/guide-to-smuggling-rare-italian-amaro-campari-cask-tales-braulio/

The Diesus Amaro del Frata has the same monk-like bottle shape as Frangelico.

Every now and then, the 2 1/2 decent liquor stores in Tupelo will sneak something new and interesting into stock -- got a bottle of Amaro Montenegro today while I was looking for Everclear.

ooh jealous, that was one of my favorites from the Italy trip notes upthread

did you find everclear? It's kind of crazy how much cheaper italian amaros can be in countries outside the US (I mean if you can find them). We took a bottle of aperol from here to the US because it's so much cheaper here.

Everclear itself is sold out everywhere, but one store had plenty of Diesel 190-proof grain spirit. With a name like Diesel, it ought to make some great sanitizer.

i had everclear one night in my life. Never again.

A good and relatively simple Montenegro cocktail is the Cobble Hill:

2 oz rye
0.5 oz dry vermouth
0.5 oz Montenegro

Muddle a couple of cucumber slices in the mixing glass, add other ingredients, and stir with ice. Garnish with a lemon twist.

love cucumber in cocktails.

I'll give that a go -- bought a cucumber this afternoon. (Every other salad ingredient was sold out, but an onion-cucumber salad is fine by me.)

My favourite thing to do with Montenegro: https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2012/01/jackson-cannons-adriatique-aperitif-aperol-orange-juice-amaro-cocktail-recipe.html

cucumber and whiskey seems very unintuitive to me, meaning... I'll have to try it!

Yeah, somehow it works! Also, maybe this is obvious, but the cucumber is strained out of the cocktail. So you're just getting a subtle note of it.

there's a pizzeria near me that has Elisir Novasalus on the menu and I'll often have one if I end up there for a late lunch. It's pretty crazy.

Drinking this: https://www.cocchi.it/en/wines/dopo-teatro-vermouth-amaro/

It's described as a "vermouth amaro" and I guess that's pretty accurate. Reminds me of Bonal, and I haven't had Punt E Mes but I read someone say it tastes similar. Anyway, it's pretty nice straight over ice.

those vermouth amaro things are funny b/c i feel like they're all separated from regular sweet vermouth by a few degrees of bitterness at best. yet i have ruined a cocktail or two using one of them as a straight replacement for a normal sweet vermouth.

mmm unexpectedly found a bottle of Amaro Lucano at a store I don't usually go to, drinking some on rocks now

Prompted/inspired by erstwhilXor Tep, I've been infusing amari with coconut. I have a large tub of unrefined, very coconutty coconut oil that I wasn't sure what to do with, and this works perfectly. I did some Campari first. A Jungle Bird with pineapple rum and coconut Campari is some good-ass drinking, let me tell you.

Now I've moved on to Amaro di Angostura, which I infused for 3 days and strained this morning. The amaro is delicious, not coconutty until the swallow and then BAM, and will pair up well with rum; but what I'm really looking forward to is the banana bread I'm going to make with Angostura-infused coconut oil instead of vegetable oil.

what ratio of oil to campari did you use?

About 1:3 or 1:4, 3 days of infusing. I put the jar in the oven on Bread Proof setting for about 30 minutes at first so the oil would liquefy and gave it a swirl several times a day. Since then the weather has gotten cold, but I'm not sure if that will slow the flavor transfer on future batches.

holy shit y'all

https://www.drinkhacker.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Amaro-tosolini.jpg

the description there doesn't do it justice imo, yes it has a straightforward cola/root beer nose but tasting is is wildly complicated, some fernet minty stuff going on, some of that toasted butter flavor, and something I can't identify that's nut-like? pretty bitter as well, I'm enchanted.

looking for recipes led me to this fascinating page, sending up the bat-signal for WmC

https://inuakena.com/spirit-reviews/amaro-103-advanced-amari/

Oh yeah, the Amaro 101-102-103-104 pages have been a great resource for me. Another good roundup is at Kindred Cocktails — https://kindredcocktails.com/info/amaro

Tosolini sounds good, I might look for that on my next trip to Buster's in Memphis. I lost my mind the first time I went in there, spent 300 bucks before I realized what was happening. Turns out Memphis's liquor stores have Atlanta's totally beat.

i've never seen tosolini here but maybe i'll do a couple of more careful searches.

I've been drinking a lot of 50:50 amaro/vermouth mixes - I guess that would be Milano-Torino riffs? Nice and light.

what should I get next? current stock is:

Campari
Cynar
Aperol
Montenegro
Tosolini
Nonino
Vecchio Amaro Del Capo

I really love Nardini. Also there's a Seattle company that makes an Amaro called Amaricano. Quite tasty!

I went with Sibilla but have never heard of either of those, so thanks!

Right on! I haven't heard of Sibilla so I'll look for it

this was amazing, "For Whom The Sun Rises"

1.5 ounces Varnelli Amaro Sibilla
0.75 ounce grapefruit juice
0.25 ounce lime juice
0.25 ounce Maraska Maraschino (cherry brandy)
0.25 ounce simple syrup
5 drops salt solution (3 parts kosher salt to 1 part water)
Grapefruit peel (placed in the shaker)
shake, double strain, serve at room temp

sibilia is the reigning favorite in the house (followed by cynar).