Amore Amaro - love and bitterness. The ying and yang of love and life all in one bottle. Amaro is a diverse and fascinating category but you should know, that once you stick your head down that rabbit-hole you're gone for good. The search is enrossing, no two are the same, they're both a crazy anachorism and fabulously current. They defy easy labels and in a world of homgenaeity favouroid-riven food and drink, they are the antidote, reminding you of the variety of nature and the creativity of man. 

What is Amaro?

The easiest way to explain Amaro is that it’s a spirit, often neutral spirit or brandy, that is then infused with all manner of herbs, barks, flowers, citrus peels, peppermint, gentia, juniper, rocket, rosemary...pretty much anything you have on hand. It's then sweetened to a greater or lesser degree and aged in barrel for a time.

There is no one recipe, there are thousands of individual interpretations across Italy as varied as the indigenous flora one finds in the nearby forests and hills. From Alpine meadows to Sicilian orange groves to the wilds of the islands, the flavour spectrum of an Amaro will be driven by what is on hand. 

For those of us who are obsessed with the genre, this is a large part of the appeal, no two bitters (Amari) are the same. You have to try all of them to finally rest on your preferred style!

Critically important is the balance of sweetness (Amaro are all sweetened to a greater or lesser degree) and bitterness in combination with whatever aromatic and flavour profile has come from the steeping material. Too much one way and I’m out; excessive bitterness or excessive sweetness both tend to ride roughshod when you’re trying to get a line on the essence of what the distiller was trying to achieve. 

Don’t get me wrong I’ve been smitten with both extremes in the past but maybe it’s old age that I now search out the goldilocks zone when assessing a new Amaro. That's my opinion and I know plenty of people who prefer the extra sweet styles and those who get off on the intensely bitter (fernet) styles. 

How do you use them?

Any way you want, there are no rules here, but I know that’s not helpful. So...

On ice with a splash of soda and you’ve got yourself a enlivening aperitif. 

On ice with a slice of citrus (depending on the Amaro) and you’ve got yourself a digestive. 

Obviously, you can use them in hundreds of cocktails, the most famous and popular of late is the Negroni. 

I even tasted one recently where the main steeping material was rosemary. Roscoe suggested you could you it to make a gravy for your roast lamb. I tried it, it worked a treat. I didn’t much like the Amaro but it was killer for the gravy!

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