amaro
Credit: Amaro Montenegro
2 oz Amaro Montenegro
1 oz Lunazul Blanco Tequila
0.5 oz lime juice
Shake with ice and strain into a chilled coupe or Nick and Nora glass.
We had people over for games on Cinco de Mayo, and my husband found this recipe on the web. I don’t often drink tequila but this one is great for how simple it is! Montenegro has a perfect balance of sweet and bitter in this drink. The guests enjoyed it too!
Credit: Brad Thomas Parsons, Amaro
1 1/2 oz Amaro CioCiaro
1 1/2 oz cold brew coffee concentrate
Build in a rocks glass with a large ice cube.
The cold brew is perfect with the CioCiaro. It was in the low 90s today, so sipping on this at the end of a long day is such a reward!
Credit: Barfaith
1 oz Montelobos Espadín Mezcal Joven
1 oz Amaro Sfumato Rabarbaro
1 oz cold brew concentrate
orange peel and Luxardo cherry garnish
Shake and strain over a large rock of ice. Express the orange peel and garnish with the spent peel and cherry.
So, this was unexpectedly awesome. I say unexpected because I don’t much care for mezcal. However, the Montelobos is a good starter mezcal, and the smokiness of Amaro Sfumato Rabarbaro pairs so well…and I do love my amari! We drank this the night before going on our first cruise (Dice Tower 2020!!) and all we had on hand was instant espresso but it still worked! Now we have some cold brew coffee concentrate from Trader Joe’s.
This is best with Jeffrey Morgenthaler’s cold brew coffee concentrate.
Credit: The Educated Barfly, citing Ryan Wainright and Kara Newman, Nightcap
1 1/2 oz Amaro Lucano
1/2 oz Flor de Cana 12 Year Rum
1/2 oz Mr Black Coffee Liqueur
1/2 oz heavy cream
2 dashes Fee Brothers Aztec Chocolate Bitters
chocolate garnish
Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Grate chocolate over the top.
This is a perfect nightcap. Even with no sugar syrup and using a much less sweet coffee liqueur, the drink is plenty sweet from the amaro, and has a bitter, spicy, intriguing flavor. I’d like to get white chocolate next time for a bit more creaminess—I used a dark chocolate almond orange bar, which was still fantastic. And Fee’s Aztec Chocolate bitters have so much flavor!
Credit: St. George Spirits
1 oz St. George Pear Brandy
1 oz St. George Spiced Pear Liqueur
1 oz Amaro Nonino
Meyer lemon peel
Build over ice. Squeeze Meyer lemon peel over drink to release oils, then use as a garnish.
Fantastic enough to get me out of a blogging dry spell after 2 sips! I opened up the bottle of St. George Pear Brandy to enjoy on its own, and went to the website to check spelling, and happened to see this drink listed, so made it for my husband. It called for Lo-Fi Gentian Amaro and grapefruit zest, but worked with what I had and thought the Nonino and Meyer lemon would sub in well. An ode to pear. It’s late so I’m sticking with brandy, but there’s tomorrow and New Year’s Eve…
Credit: Amaro Montenegro website
1 1/2 oz Amaro Montenegro
3 oz Fever Tree Indian Tonic Water
orange peel garnish
Build over ice. Spritz with orange and garnish with the peel.
A refreshing way to stretch amaro into a long drink!
Amaro Montenegro
orange peel
Build over ice. Spritz with orange and garnish with the peel.
Couldn’t be easier—just fantastic. The orange peel is critical, however.
1 oz Cynar
4 oz San Pellegrino Limonata
lemon wedge
Build in a collins glass. Add ice and garnish with a lemon wedge.
Limonata is cheaper and easier to find than lemon tonic water, and just as refreshing. It’s a bit sweeter though.
1 oz Cynar
1/2 6.8 oz bottle Fever Tree Sicilian Lemon Tonic Water
lemon wedge
Build in a collins glass. Add ice and garnish with a lemon wedge.
Bitter and refreshing! I’d read about mixing Cynar with lemon soda. I have yet to pick up some San Pellegrino Limonata but had the tonic water on hand. At 16% ABV, the Cynar makes this the equivalent of 1/4 of a glass of red wine—an easy drink to have before dinner! It looks like iced tea.
Credit: Brad Thomas Parsons, Amaro
1/4 cup Talenti Coffee Chocolate Chip gelato
1/4 cup Talenti Salted Caramel gelato
3/4 oz Amaro Averna
1 tsp malted milk powder
whipped cream
caramel drizzle and cherry garnish
Blend the gelato, Averna, and milk powder. Squeeze a thin layer of whipped cream on top, then add a caramel drizzle and cherry.
So, not to put the entire meaning of life in a drink, but wow, this drink is GOOD. I didn’t do the caramel drizzle (even though I did have homemade caramel sauce), because, sugar, but I did add a Bordeaux cherry, a bit less sweet than a Luxardo. The Talenti coffee gelato is on the bitter side, which pairs so well with the caramel. I try to make as small a portion as possible—the recipe calls for about 3 times this much—then I split it with my husband. This way, I can have these more frequently. In theory.
Credit: Brad Thomas Parsons, Amaro
1 1/2 oz Amaro Ramazzotti
3 oz A&W Root Beer
1/2 cup Talenti Madagascan Vanilla Bean gelato
Build in a chilled collins glass. Serve with a straw and spoon.
A sophisticated root beer float. I bought Ramazzotti after I did the amari tastings, but I’d probably put it toward the top of easy to sip on its own, as it definitely has root beer notes along with citrus and spice. I’d be curious to try other root beers.
Credit: Brad Thomas Parsons, Amaro
1 espresso
1/2 oz Amaro CioCiaro
Add amaro to espresso and enjoy.
This was such a happy moment. We had dinner with friends, who fortunately have an espresso machine. I’ve never been a huge fan of espresso as it’s too bitter—I typically have coffee with soy milk. I only added 1/2 oz of amaro since I don’t like drinks too boozy—however Brad Thomas Parson’s Amaro recommends equal parts espresso and amaro.
I can’t think of a more perfect pairing! Looking forward to trying amaro in coffee.
Amaro Averna (29% ABV)
Amaro CioCiaro (30% ABV)
Cynar (16.5% ABV)
Amaro Montenegro (23% ABV)
Amaro Nonino Quintessentia (35% ABV)
My husband and I did a blind tasting of all these amari by placing stickers on the bottom of mini glasses, and putting about 2 teaspoons of each one over a mini ice cube. It was fun removing any potential biases and just tasting each one!
The amari fell into a spectrum of ones we could sip, and ones that would do better in concert with other ingredients in a cocktail. Really, only the Cynar was a bit vegetal to sip on its own, but can’t wait to try it in a cocktail. So, in that order:
Amaro CioCiaro
Amaro Montenegro
Amaro Nonino Quintessentia
Amaro Averna
Cynar
