On Amaro
The Avion de Papel.
If you’ve spent your fair share of time at Italian restaurants and eaten at the bar (one of my favorite pastimes here in New York), you’ve likely come across a collection of Amaro bottles lined up neatly on the shelves behind the bartender. You may have even experienced them in a cocktail or two.
My first real introduction was after a long, sumptuous meal at the New York restaurant Maialino. As a witness to my overindulgence, our waitress suggested an Amaro for digestion and promptly brought over a glass. The love was immediate upon first taste (and yes, it did the trick). Yet it took me a few more years to fully understand and engage in this special breed of liqueur, and now I can’t look away!
Once I started digging deeper, I realized the history and categorization behind each was just as complex as the flavors in the bottle. Amaro literally means “bitter” in Italian, and it is indeed the birthplace of these particular liqueurs, yet there is no DOC (Denominazione di Origine Controllata, or, Designation of Controlled Origin) certification as there is with Prosecco or Barolo. Additionally, everything from Campari to Averna is technically considered an “Amaro”, despite the fact that some are used as aperitifs, and others as digestifs (such as the one I tried at Maialino).
Classifications aside, each kind has its own, specific secret (!) recipe based on the flora of the area it comes from. Braulio, for example, originates from the Swiss-bordering town of Valtellina, and the resulting flavor is just as piney and herbaceous as you’d expect. Even more compelling is the fact that most of these recipes have remained unchanged since their inception, so what you’re drinking now is what the original producers intended.
While I’m still working through trying different kinds myself, below are some of my initial favorites and their corresponding cocktail recipes, if you don’t just want to enjoy them on their own.
MELETTI
Provenance: Ascoli Piceno
Origin year: 1870
Tastes like: An anise and citrus-infused cola
Avion de Papel
¾ oz Blanco Tequila
¾ oz Meletti
¾ oz Aperol
¾ oz Lemon Juice
Combine ingredients into a shaker with ice. Shake for twenty seconds and strain into a coupe.
BRAULIO
Provenance: Valtellina
Origin year: 1875
Tastes like: If “Sound of Music” were an Amaro.
Palpable Apathy
1 oz sweet vermouth
1 oz Braulio
1 oz Rye
1 dash lemon bitters (I have used orange bitters as a substitute, though, and it’s just as delicious.)
Add all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice and stir until chilled. Strain into a rocks glass with a single cube, and garnish with a lemon twist.
AVERNA
Provenance: Caltanissetta, Sicily
Origin year: 1868
Tastes like: A goth cola.
Black Manhattan
2 oz Bourbon
1 oz Averna
1 dash Angostura bitters
1 dash orange bitters (I use Reagan’s)
Combine all ingredients into a mixing glass with ice. Stir until chilled and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a Maraschino cherry. (the nice kind from Italy, not the Shirley Temple version!)
LUCANO
Provenance: Pisticci
Origin year: 1894
Tastes like: Root Beer gone wild.
Lucano Negroni
1 oz dry gin
1 oz Lucano
1 oz sweet Vermouth
Combine all ingredients into a mixing glass with ice. Stir until chilled and strain into a rocks glass over ice. Garnish with an orange peel.