Amaro

Featuring more than 100 recipes, Amaro is the first book to demystify the ever-expanding, bittersweet world, and is a must-have for any home cocktail enthusiast or industry professional.

The European tradition of making bittersweet liqueurs--called amari in Italian--has been around for centuries. But it is only recently that these herbaceous digestifs have moved from the dusty back bar to center stage in the United States, and become a key ingredient on cocktail lists in the country’s best bars and restaurants. Lucky for us, today there is a dizzying range of amaro available—from familiar favorites like Averna and Fernet-Branca, to the growing category of regional, American-made amaro.

Starting with a rip-roaring tour of bars, cafés, and distilleries in Italy, amaro’s spiritual home, Brad Thomas Parsons—author of the James Beard and IACP Award–winner Bitters—will open your eyes to the rich history and vibrant culture of amaro today. With more than 100 recipes for amaro-centric cocktails, DIY amaro, and even amaro-spiked desserts, you’ll be living (and drinking) la dolce vita.Introduction.1 

DEMYSTIFYING AMARO.5 

EXPLORING THE WORLD OF AMARO .23 

APERITIVO COCKTAILS.87 
Americano. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .90 
Aperol Spritz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .93 
Campari and Soda. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .93 
Garibaldi. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .94 
Negroni Sbagliato. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  97 

ESSENTIAL AMARO COCKTAILS .99 
Boulevardier. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .100 
Hanky Panky . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 
Jungle Bird. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 
Negroni. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 
Old Pal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 
Toronto. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 

MODERN AMARO COCKTAILS .111 
Alpine Slide. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .112 
Alpine Sour. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .114 
Amaro Amanté. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .115 
Amaro Sour. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 
The Art of the Choke/
Kyle’s After Pork Digestif . . . . . . . . .121 
Averna Smash. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .122 
Bartender on Acid. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .122 
Bitter Giuseppe. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .123 
The Bitter Swagger. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .124 
Bjórn Supremacy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .126 
Black Manhattan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 
Boss Colada. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128 
The Brave. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130 
The Brunch Box. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 
Cantina Band. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 
Cappelletti Spritz. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 
Cardinal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .136 
Carroll Gardens. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136 
The Chipileños. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 
Choke and Smoke. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 
Cranberry Beret. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .140 
Cynara. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 
Eeyore’s Requiem. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 
Elena’s Virtue. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 
Embittered Garibaldi. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 
Exit Strategy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148 
Fields Forever. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .151 
Flip Ya for Real. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152 
Foregone Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 
Friûl Libar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157 
Gato Amargo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158 
Grandmother’s Tea. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160 
Here Today, Saigon Amaro. . . . . . . . . 162 
Hunting Vest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163 
Ice-Berg. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 
Italian Buck. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .166 
The Jump Off. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167 
Juniper #3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168 
Letters of Marque. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168 
Little Italy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .171 
M&M. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172 
The Mayor’s Lament. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174 
Monte Clift. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Mustache Ride. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176 
Paper Plane. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179 
Red Hook Criterium. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180 
Rickey Ramazzotti. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183 
Root Down. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184 
Safe Passage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187 
San Francisco Treat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188 
Senegalese Friendship Bracelet. . . . 189 
Seventh Heaven . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190 
Sharpie Mustache. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193 
Skystone Meletti. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194 
Smithstreeter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197 
Summer Babe (Winter Version) . . . . . 198 
Summer Quartet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201 
Thistle and Weeds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .203 
The Velvet Ditch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .203 
The Victorian. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .204 
The Waterfront. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .207 
White Negroni. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .208 
Yesterday, Today, and Amaro. . . . . . . 210 
Zucca for Love. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .211 
Chile-Choke. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214 
CIA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214 
Ferrari. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214 
Full Monte. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214 
Hard Start. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216 
Jälort. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218 
The Jimbo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218 
Magari. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219 
Malori. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219 
Maserati. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219 
Nar Nar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219 
Newport. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219 
Shatz, Bro! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .220 
Spaghetti. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .220 
Zucca Joe. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .220 

MAKING YOUR OWN AMARO .223 
Autumnal Amaro. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .228 
Winter Spice Amaro. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .229 
Rite of Spring Amaro. . . . . . . . . . . . . .232 
Summer Solstice Amaro . . . . . . . . . . .233 

THE BITTERSWEET K ITCHEN .235 
Caffè Corretto. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .239 
Drunken Affogato. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .240 
Amaro-Spiked Milkshakes. . . . . . . . . .242 
Bittersweet Ice Cream Sodas. . . . . . .246 
Aperitivo Ice Pops. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .249 
Fernet and Coke Ice Pops. . . . . . . . . .249 
Bitter Balls. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251 
Amaro-etti Cookies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .252 
Branca Menta Hot Chocolate. . . . . . .255 
Amaro-Spiked
Mulled Hot Apple Cider. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .256 
Barrel-Aged Fernet Maple Syrup. . . .256“With cocktail recipes, amaro-spiked desserts, and even a guide to making your own amari, this book is a comprehensive guide to the liqueur. Ranging from personal anecdotes about cocktails to multiple paragraphs about a classic’s history, you get fun, interesting context with every recipe.”—Saveur

“One man’s love affair with bitter liqueurs . . . the book is ideally timed: Many Americans in the last few years have discovered the bracing pleasures of drinks like Campari, Aperol, Cynar and even the acerbic Fernet Branca.”—The New York Times

“Parsons more than delivers on sweet ways to enjoy the spirit, explains the vast amari family tree and gives tips for how to make your own variety for every season.”—Tasting Table

“If you're a fan of Campari, Averna, Cynar, or other bittersweet liqueurs, this book will have your mouth watering and your liquor cabinet collapsing under its own weight.”—Serious Eats

"Brad Thomas Parsons’s Amaro: The Spirited World of Bittersweet, Herbal Liqueurs serves as an Alice-like rabbit hole allowing full immersion in the world of amaro.”—The Wall Street Journal

“Beautifully photographed by Ed Anderson, Amaro is as much a desperately needed guide to the opaque and ill-defined world of bitter herbal liqueurs as it is a visual love letter to Italy.”—PUNCH

“This stylishly-designed volume offers background on the main producers, over a hundred cocktail recipes and a section on how to make your own amaro at home.”—Forbes

“Thanks to Brad Thomas Parsons, we now have a book that properly celebrates the category, and teaches us just how sweet it is to drink what's bitter.”—Danny Meyer, founder of the Union Square Hospitality Group

“I am a longtime lover of bitter Italian liqueurs. But this smart handbook has deepened my understanding of and heightened my appreciation for amaro and its kin. Read this and you will be thirsty.”—Mario Batali

“Parsons’s passion for the history, culture, and personalities behind these herbaceous concoctions, coupled with Ed Anderson’s gorgeous photography, make Amaro a must-have.”—Amy Stewart, author of The Drunken Botanist

“Amaro is complete and thirst-inducing. Two thumbs up!”—Frédéric Morin and David McMillan, authors of The Art of Living According to Joe Beef

“Fernet-Branca: what would we do without it? It is certainly my favorite of the amaros; some even say that it cures all known ailments and improves the humors.”—Fergus Henderson, author of The Complete Nose to Tail

“Amaro is the most in depth, detailed, and well put together book on the industry’s favorite class of liqueurs. From the better known Campari and Fernet Branca to American-made amari like Calisaya from Oregon, this work is encyclopedic in its scope.”—Star Chefs Brad Thomas Parsons is the author of Amaro: The Spirited World of Bittersweet, Herbal Liqueurs and Bitters: A Spirited History of a Classic Cure-All, which was the winner of the James Beard and IACP Cookbook Awards, and a finalist for the Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards. Parsons received an MFA in writing from Columbia University, and his work has appeared in Bon Appétit, Lucky Peach, Food & Wine, Travel + Leisure, Punch, and more. He lives in Brooklyn, New York. Visit www.btparsons.com.NEGRONI SBAGLIATO

Milan’s venerable Bar Basso opened in 1947, and in 1967, Mirko Stocchetto, a bartender from Venice, took over the bar and started adding cocktails to the menu to compete with the city’s larger hotels and cafés. His son Maurizio Stocchetto now runs Bar Basso and you’ll still find a menu of “Classic Cocktails from the Old School” behind the bar, including the White Russian, brandy Alexander, Grasshopper, and Gibson, but the Italian cocktail made famous at Basso is the Negroni Sbagliato.

Sbagliato means “messed up” or “bungled” in Italian, and as the younger Stocchetto tells it, one night in the late 1960s or early 1970s a bartender had accidentally swapped the gin with a bottle of spumante. When his father was making a customer’s Negroni he reached for the spot on the bar where the gin was always kept but instead added the dry sparkling wine to the mix of Campari and vermouth. “The customer said, ‘Let’s try it.’ And he didn’t complain.”

When I asked Stocchetto how many Negroni Sbagliatos he served each day, he just sighed and said “too many.” They normally serve it in a comically large hand-blown stemmed glass, the kind of fishbowl-sized vessel you’re more likely to encounter at a bachelorette party spilling out onto Bourbon Street, but when I ordered one he insisted on making mine in the standard rocks glass. He reminisced about hanging out at the bar as a boy, but he really lit up telling me about his time living in San Francisco in his twenties. His love of the Beats, jazz, and the NHL play-offs remains strong, but he’s particularly entertained by the American fast-food advertisements shown during his beloved hockey games. Taking a pause from serving a customer a supersized Sbagliato, he looked at me and smiled in wonder, “At Subway, they’ll put guacamole on anything you want!”

MAKES 1 DRINK
1 ounce Campari
1 ounce sweet vermouth
1 ounce Prosecco or sparkling wine
Garnish: orange slice or orange zest 

Build the Campari, vermouth, and Prosecco in an old-fashioned glass filled with ice. Stir and garnish with the orange slice or orange zest.