Amaro means "bitter" in Italian, and it's the family name for a whole shelf of after-dinner liqueurs built to be exactly that: bittersweet, herbal, and poured once the plates are cleared, not before. "Liqueur" is the bigger umbrella: amaro, limoncello and amaretto are all liqueurs, and vermouth, a fortified wine, sits right beside them on the same shelf, but each does a different job at the table. If you've never had any of them, think of this as the map before the tasting.
What's the difference between amaro, liqueur and vermouth?
A liqueur is a spirit flavoured with things like sugar, fruit, herbs and spices, which covers everything from limoncello to Irish cream (Wikipedia). Amaro is a specific, bittersweet style of liqueur made by macerating herbs, roots, bark, flowers and citrus peel in a spirit or wine base, then typically sweetening the result with a caramel syrup, landing between 16% and 40% ABV (Wikipedia). Vermouth is a different animal again: not a neutral spirit at all, but a fortified, aromatized wine. Our Vermouth di Torino Bianco Gamondi, for instance, has to be made in Piedmont from one or more Italian wines, at 16% to 22% ABV, and flavoured with wormwood grown or gathered in Piedmont, rules set out when Vermouth di Torino became a protected geographical indication in 2017 (Vermouth di Torino Consortium; Australian Bartender).
Limoncello sits at the sweet, citrus end of the liqueur family with no bitterness at all. So: vermouth is wine-based and aromatic, limoncello is sweet and sharp, and amaro is the bittersweet one standing between them.
Where does amaro actually come from?
Amaro is simply Italian for "bitter" (Wikipedia), and the drink itself grew out of herbal medicine: consuming spirits infused with botanicals as medicine became commonplace in Italy's monasteries long before amaro was poured for pleasure (GuildSomm). Many of today's commercial amari trace their recipes or production to the 19th century or earlier, and those recipes often started in monasteries or pharmacies (Wikipedia). Two of the houses we carry trace exactly that arc. Antica Distilleria Petrone was officially founded in 1858 and found its true home in Mondragone, Campania; it is listed in Italy's register of historic businesses, and its Amarè recipe descends from an herbal after-dinner elixir Domenico Petrone made for the Bourbon royal family (Unioncamere; Antica Distilleria Petrone). In Acqui Terme, Piedmont, Carlo Gamondi created his amaro in 1890, and it is still made to his original recipe of 29 herbs and roots, today by Toso (Gamondi; Wikipedia).
Why does an Alpine amaro taste so different from a Calabrian one?
There's no single amaro flavour: the style shifts with the region it's made in. Northern Italian amari lean on Alpine botanicals like gentian, juniper, wormwood and yarrow, which give them intense bitterness and herbal depth (Asterley Bros; The Minty's Amaro Handbook). Head south, to Calabria and Sicily, and the profile brightens: southern amari are known for bold citrus, especially lemon and orange, balanced with local herbs and a hint of sweetness (Asterley Bros). Our own range plays this out producer by producer, from Gamondi's gentian-led Piedmontese recipe to Rupes' orange-and-dark-chocolate Calabrian one.
How do you drink amaro: neat, on ice, or in a cocktail?
All three, depending on the amaro and the moment. The most classic Italian serve is neat at room temperature, which Petrone says allows the full enhancement of its intense aromas (Antica Distilleria Petrone). In southern Italy it is also served with a few ice cubes and a lemon or orange peel. Bitter liqueurs have a second life in cocktails, too: the Negroni is equal parts gin, sweet vermouth and Campari, and the older Americano is vermouth and Campari lengthened with soda and no gin at all (Wikipedia).
What temperature should amaro be served at?
Room temperature, neat, is the classic Italian answer, and Petrone calls it the most traditional way to serve a good amaro (Antica Distilleria Petrone). If you prefer it colder, a few ice cubes with a strip of citrus peel is the southern Italian way, meant to bring out the amaro's freshness and citrus notes. There's no wrong answer here: Italians serve amaro both ways depending on the house.
What food goes with amaro and Italian liqueurs?
Amaro is built to follow a meal, not accompany one: it's a digestivo, meant to arrive after the plates are cleared. In our tasting notes, the darker southern bottles, like Petrone's Amaro Amare, sit naturally alongside dark chocolate, dried fruit or roasted chestnuts. Limoncello and amaretto play the opposite role, sweet rather than bitter, and we like them with light fruit desserts or poured straight over good vanilla gelato.
Our amaro and liqueurs at Solo Cru
We carry this range producer by producer, region by region, rather than trying to find one bottle that does everyone's job.
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Gamondi (Piedmont): the Acqui Terme house founded in 1890 (Wikipedia): Amaro Gamondi ($43.96), the gentian-led original; Vermouth di Torino Bianco Gamondi ($32.50), made to the Piedmont PGI's own rules with Piedmontese wormwood (Gamondi); and Amaretto Teodoro Negro ($39.90), an almond liqueur from the same Piedmontese house.
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Petrone (Campania): founded in 1858, today based in Mondragone (Unioncamere): Amaro Amare ($65.50) is built on the herbal elixir Domenico Petrone made for the Bourbon royal family.
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Buiese (Friuli Venezia Giulia): a gentler, younger style out of the northeast: Amaro Seminatore ($66.50), the lighter of the pair, and Amaro Lusor ($74.50) for more depth.
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Rupes (Calabria): the full-bodied southern style, orange and dark chocolate up front: Rupes Gold Amaro ($69.90), and its cream-liqueur sibling, Rupes Cream Liquor ($78.40), for dessert duty instead of digestivo duty.
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Faled (Emilia Romagna): Limoncello Gold Selection ($39.00), a natural lemon liqueur in the classic style, made in Emilia Romagna.
Start wherever your palate sits today, gentian-bitter and Alpine or orange-and-chocolate and southern, and see the full shelf in our Amaro collection. If you'd rather end the meal with a glass of wine, our Vin Santo guide covers Tuscany's traditional choice.
