What is an amaro and how is it made and how is it drunk?
Amaro, also known as bitter , is a classic Italian after-dinner drink. It's a liqueur with an alcohol content of at least 15%, obtained by infusing a blend of predominantly bitter-tasting herbs in alcohol.
Already in ancient and medieval times, plants, roots, and spices were macerated in wine to prepare a digestive and healing beverage. It was in Benedictine monasteries in Europe during the Middle Ages that knowledge of botany and phytotherapy was preserved and passed down.
The monks cultivated medicinal herbs in the monastery's hortus conclusus and used them to produce bitter liqueurs, used as digestive aids and remedies for various ailments. The tradition of making this bitter liqueur, with its aperitif, eupeptic, and digestive properties, has been passed down through the centuries, from monasteries to pharmacies, small artisanal producers, and finally large-scale industry, making Italy one of the leading bitter liqueur-producing countries.
How to make a bitter
Behind some of Italy's most famous amaros lies the history of an ancient monastery, the inspired intuition of a pharmacist, or a passionately handed down family recipe: this know-how has also developed thanks to the vast diversity of Italian flora, which since ancient times has provided herbs and roots with aromatic and phytotherapeutic properties. Top-quality ingredients and a carefully balanced blend of herbs, roots, rhizomes, and spices are essential for an excellent amaro! To prepare an amaro, the flavoring plant ingredients (known as "botanicals") are cold-infused in 96° ethyl alcohol for a period of up to 40 days. At the end of the infusion process, the amaro is filtered and, in some cases, distilled water is added to lower the alcohol content, or sugar is added to balance the bitterness and make it more palatable. In the final phase, the amaro is bottled in glass bottles or, if the recipe calls for it, as in the case of our Amaro Fabbrizii , it is transferred into barrels to refine its aromas before arriving in our glasses.
Drinking an amaro after a good meal is one of the most beloved Italian food and wine traditions, almost a small convivial ritual.
But what is amaro, why is it called that, and why is it so loved despite being… bitter?
Bitter (or "amaro" in English) is a bitter-tasting spirit drink with an alcohol content of at least 15%, consumed as an aperitif or digestif. It is produced by flavoring ethyl alcohol or a wine base with a mix of herbs, roots, berries, flowers, peels, and spices known for their aromatic, aperitif (from the Latin aperire, "to open"), and digestive properties.
The bitter taste, in fact, stimulates the receptors in the taste buds, which in turn induce the stomach to increase gastric secretion.
Each amaro has a very specific character that comes to life from the expert aromatic blend of herbs and other plant ingredients that are subjected to distillation, infusion, maceration or percolation to extract the best of the aroma.
The bitter note is predominant but can be balanced by a sugary component in variable quantities.
At the base of an amaro there is always a refined combination of ingredients, which is often an expression of the territory in which the amaro is produced.
In recent years, bitters have attracted increasing interest among bartenders and mixology enthusiasts looking for new pairings.
But it hasn't always been this way: when do the origins of amaro as we know it today date back?
History of liqueurs
The origins of amaro are ancient, intertwined with the discoveries and techniques that have led human communities to produce alcoholic beverages since ancient times.
In ancient societies, alcoholic beverages produced by the fermentation of grapes and cereals, such as wine and beer, thanks to the mild antiseptic action of alcohol, constituted safer alternatives to water from a hygienic point of view, given that the latter was not always available or drinkable.
It is surprising that terracotta stills (from the Arabic al-anbīq as an evolution of the Greek ambix, “vase”) dating back thousands of years have been found in the Mesopotamian area and in present-day Pakistan.
With their improvement over the centuries, a higher alcoholic concentration was achieved, capable of a more effective extraction of the flavours and properties of herbs, flowers, berries and roots: this opened up new possibilities for the production of bitters and for what would be the future of pharmacology.
Bitters and liqueurs made from locally grown medicinal herbs were also produced in Benedictine monasteries, which during the troubled Middle Ages were the custodians of much knowledge regarding agriculture, botany, fermentation and alcoholic distillation.
Over the centuries, their recipes were rediscovered by pharmacists and offered to the public as elixirs of good health or tonics to alleviate ailments of various origins. In the second half of the 19th century , amaro began to become a product aimed at the general public, to be enjoyed at home or in bars .
Amaro Fabbrizii was in fact proposed by our great-grandfather Giovanni as an “Award-winning Great Modern Specialty”, a tonic and digestive liqueur to be drunk neat or with soda water.
How do you drink bitter?
The liqueur can be drunk neat at room temperature, chilled from the refrigerator, or with ice (keeping in mind that cold temperatures reduce the taste buds' perception of flavors).
Traditionally, a liqueur like limoncello is enjoyed very cold, while other types of liqueur can be used to make excellent hot punches by diluting them in very hot water.
Liqueurs lend character to a wide variety of cocktails and drinks. The growing interest in mixology (the art of mixing liqueurs and spirits) has brought them to the forefront like never before: it's impossible to recreate the most famous cocktails at home without a bottle of Cointreau or Campari, or a Spritz without Aperol!
Always offered to seal the end of a good meal, a moderately strong bitter with a sweet component can be drunk neat at room temperature or with ice cubes and a slice of orange.
To prepare a thirst-quenching drink, you can mix one part bitter, three parts seltzer with ice and a splash of lemon or orange juice in a tumbler.
Bitters can also be diluted with hot water to taste, and even with the addition of a lemon or orange peel.
