Craft Amaro
3 expressions from 2 independent distilleries
Amaro is a bittersweet herbal liqueur in the Italian tradition, made by steeping roots, barks, herbs and citrus in spirit and sweetening the result. It is sipped after dinner or used to add depth to cocktails.
On DiscoCraft you will find Bruto Americano from St. George Spirits, a California take on the bitter red aperitivo, and Bitter Bloom and Desalto from Dead of Night Distillery in Los Angeles.
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Distilleries making amaro
Questions
Amaro questions, answered
What is amaro?
Amaro is a bittersweet Italian herbal liqueur. The name means "bitter" in Italian, and each one is made by steeping a base spirit or wine with a mix of herbs, roots, bark, citrus peel and flowers, then sweetening it to balance the bitterness. Recipes are often closely guarded, with some using dozens of botanicals, and the plural is "amari."
Styles range widely:
Light: brighter and citrusy, often lower in alcohol
Alpine: made with mountain herbs, with piney, resinous notes
Fernet: intensely bitter and bracing, often with a cooling, minty finish
Artichoke-based: earthy and vegetal, built around artichoke leaves
Amaro is traditionally a digestif, sipped after a meal, the counterpart to the aperitif before it. American craft distillers have embraced the style, building their amari from local herbs, citrus and roots.
How do you drink amaro?
Neat or over ice after a meal is traditional. Amari are also key ingredients in cocktails like the Negroni and the Paper Plane.