3 Creative Ways American Bartenders Are Using Amaro in Cocktails

Cocktail: M&M Collins. Amaro: Amaro Montenegro 

Amaro, or its plural amari, simply means “bitter” in Italian, and perfectly describes one major characteristic that consumers should expect from any bottle within the category—but amaro’s complexity goes much deeper than that. Tad Carducci, Director of Outreach and Engagement for Gruppo Montenegro—Montenegro being one of the most approachable and widely available amari in the U.S.—describes its impact on the palate: “The depth of its tasting notes alone tricks the brain into thinking you’re drinking a cocktail,” he says. “The spirit is rich with citrus, with a balanced complexity of sweet and bitter oranges, followed by notes of cedar, baking spices, flowers, and dried herbs.”

There are numerous amari available in the American beverage market, both Italian in origin as well as other international selections, plus those that are domestically produced, each with their own proprietary lineup of botanicals to achieve a bitter and balanced flavor. While Campari is an amaro that has been a mainstay of American cocktail culture for many decades, the rich category of amari is still relatively unknown by the American general drinking culture. Like many spirit categories, the introduction of amari to American drinkers often happens by way of cocktails. Award-winning amari from both the US and Italy include 2022 NY International Spirits Competition Gold winner Amaro Santoni and Silver winners Brucato Amaro Orchards, Brucato Amaro Woodlands which we featured in a story on capturing California terroir, and Lucano Anniversario Amaro.

“Amaro knows no bounds,” says Max Stampa-Brown, Beverage Director of NYC’s The Garret Bars. While Amari is excellent on its own, sipped neat or over ice as a digestive, Amari is an increasingly popular and versatile tool for American bartenders looking for ways to diversify their cocktail lists, bringing depth and complexity to drinks without recipes that are dozens of ingredients long. 

Amaro As a Base Spirit

"Amaro is a great balancer or disrupter,” says Stampa-Brown. “Depending on what you’re using, it could replace an herb entirely in an herbaceous cocktail or even a sweetener in a tropical cocktail." Given the right inspiration, however, an amaro is capable of being not just the seasoning in a cocktail, but an unexpected base for a nostalgic, low-ABV cocktail.

"High Wire Distilling out of Charleston, South Carolina makes an incredible amaro. It tastes like root beer and is perfect no matter how you use it,” says Stampa-Brown. “I had one of those ‘Ratatouille’ moments where I took a sip and saw memories of hot dogs and root beer after football practice…So I put it in a root beer float, go figure."

Bandit-Beer Float. Amaro: Amaro Montenegro

Bandit-Beer Float

Ingredients:

1.25 oz Root Beer Syrup (recipe below)

1 oz High Wire Amaro

.5 oz Amaro Montenegro

Soda to top

One scoop vanilla ice cream

Maraschino cherry, plus reserved syrup, and mint to garnish

Method:

Fill a sundae glass with ice, preferably Kold Draft. 

Add Root Beer Syrup, High Wire Amaro, and Amaro Montenegro to glass.

Stir to combine while adding soda, allowing for enough space at the top of the glass for a large scoop of vanilla ice cream. 

Drizzle maraschino cherry syrup over the scooped ice cream, with a cherry on top.

Garnish with a mint sprig.

Root Beer Syrup:

In a heavy bottomed pot combine the following ingredients over high heat:

65 g coarse cut ginger

40 g sarsaparilla bark

40 g birch bark

50 g sassafras powder 

30 g molasses 

4 qt water (3,800ml)

4 qt brown sugar (3,800g)

Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce heat once bubbling and simmer gently for an hour. 

Let come to room temperature strain solids through a fine mesh sieve.

Amaro As a Bridge Between Flavors

Dianne Lowry, who created the cocktail list for Brooklyn’s Italian wine bar Macchina, also credits amari with great capabilities: “I like to think of amaro as a bridge; it creates structure for cocktails while binding different flavors together. Even a single bar spoon can really elevate a cocktail,” she says. With the M&M Collins, amaro Montenegro acts as binder and conduit between smoky mezcal and sweet and herbaceous Galliano.

M&M Collins

 1 oz Mezcal (Ilegal preferred)

.75 oz Amaro Montenegro 

.25 oz Galliano 

1 oz Orange Juice

Mole bitters 

Soda water 

Method: 

Combine all ingredients in a highball glass. Garnish with an orange twist.

Using Amaro to Riff on a Classic

Jeremiah Duncan, Beverage Director of Chicago’s beloved staple restaurant Wood, appreciates amaro’s complex quality as a point of departure from other liqueurs: “(Amari) celebrates earthy, bitter, and herbal flavors, setting them apart from the fruit focus of many other liqueurs,” he says. “Many are so complex that drinking one on its own is almost like having a cocktail, as you can discover a plethora of intricate flavors that activate different parts of your tongue within each sip.”

“Amari can have wildly different sugar levels amongst the various brands, so I'd say that is my first consideration,” says Duncan, as to his approach for building a cocktail utilizing amaro. “There are some that can directly replace any sweetening agent you'd use for the drink, while adding dramatic complexity.” Here, Duncan demonstrates that by creating a whiskey sour whose typical syrup component is partially substituted for Amaro Averna.

Cocktail: Wish You Were Here. Amaro: Amaro Averna

Wish You Were Here

1.5 oz bourbon (Bulleit preferred)

1 oz Amaro Averna

.5 oz Giffard strawberry liqueur

.25 oz pink peppercorn syrup

1 oz lemon juice

.75 oz egg white

Method:

Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Dry shake to develop egg white, then shake over ice and strain into a coupe. Garnish with pink peppercorns.