Amaro/Aperitivo & Vermouth
WHAT IS AMARO?
Amaro, which aptly translates to “bitter”, is a traditional Italian liqueur that is famous for its bittersweet taste and its rich tapestry of herbs and botanicals. Like many modern drinks, it was originally created as a ‘health tonic” before evolving into the beverage we know today. Nowadays, it is mainly used as a digestive after a nice meal or as an ingredient in cocktails, in which it is used to highlight lighter, sweeter flavours, much in the same way as bitters would.
Though most amari (the plural of amaro) share common ingredients like wormwood, gentian root and citrus peel, there is no ‘official’ recipe for it. Many famous brands of amaro like Fernet Branca and Montenegro have their own recipes that highlight different aspects of the drink.
Branca Menta
Branca Menta is an Italian mint-flavoured, bitter herbal liqueur launched in 1965, based on the original Fernet-Branca recipe but with added peppermint oil. It has a 28% ABV and features over 30 herbs, spices, and mint, offering a sweet, cooling, and herbaceous taste with a 28% ABV. It is commonly enjoyed as a digestive, neat, over ice, or in cocktails like a Branca Menta Mojito.
Fernet Branca
Fernet-Branca is an iconic Italian aromatic bitter (amaro) created in Milan in 1845 by Bernardino Branca. It is a 39% ABV liqueur produced from a secret, proprietary blend of 27 herbs, roots, and spices from four continents—including saffron, chamomile, and rhubarb—aged for one year in oak barrels. Known for its intense, minty, and deeply bitter flavour profile, it is commonly consumed as a digestive (digestivo), a cocktail ingredient, or in the popular “Fernet and Coke” in Argentina.
Amaro Montenegro
Amaro montenegro is one of the most popular italian spirits, thanks to its secret formula with 40 aromatic herbs, a bottle with an iconic shape and a skilful production process. An italian amaro, whose flavour, pleasantly balanced between sweet and bitter, reproduces the mixture created in 1885, by the master herbalist stanislao cobianchi in bologna, dedicated to the princess of montenegro, elena, future queen of italy.
Select Aperitivo
The authentic venice-style spritz has to include select, an unreplaceable ingredient for any venetian aperitif following the
Traditional recipe. Select: distilled in 1920 in venice by the pilla brothers, using 30 selected botanicals, offers a different taste experience, and enriches the traditional italian aperitif with classy aromas, most notably rhubarb and juniper berries.