Italian Amaro,
Where Bitter is Better
Your guide to amaro — Italy's herbal digestif. Cocktail recipes, brand reviews, and tasting notes for Fernet-Branca, Montenegro, Nonino, Averna, Cynar and more.
"The soul of Italy in a bottle."
What is amaro?
Amaro (Italian for "bitter") is a category of Italian herbal liqueur traditionally served as a digestif after a meal. Most amari are made by macerating dozens of botanicals — herbs, roots, citrus peels, bark, and flowers — in neutral spirit or wine, then sweetening lightly and aging.
Every region of Italy has its own amaro, from the bitter-mint punch of Milan's Fernet-Branca to the floral softness of Bologna's Amaro Montenegro and the silky barrel-aged elegance of Friuli's Amaro Nonino. Drink them neat, on the rocks with an orange peel, or in cocktails like the Paper Plane or the Black Manhattan.
How to Make a Paper Plane Cocktail
Amaro & Bitter Aperitivo Cocktails
From the Amaro Spritz at golden hour to the Caffè Corretto at midnight — every essential Italian amaro and bitter-aperitivo cocktail, all made in five minutes or less.
01The Amaro Spritz
The perfect golden-hour ritual. Swap Aperol for a proper amaro and the spritz grows up.
2 oz Amaro Montenegro · 3 oz Prosecco · splash of soda · orange slice
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02Black Manhattan
A modern classic that proves the right amaro can replace vermouth and create something better.
2 oz Rye Whiskey · 1 oz Averna · 2 dashes Angostura · cherry
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03Amaro Highball
The Japanese-bar approach to amaro: cold, fizzy, and honest. Lets the spirit do the talking.
1.5 oz Nonino Quintessentia · 4 oz cold soda · lemon twist
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04Amaro Boulevardier
A winter fireplace in a rocks glass. The Boulevardier rebuilt with an amaro spine.
1.5 oz Bourbon · 1 oz Cynar · 1 oz Sweet Vermouth · orange peel
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05Caffè Corretto
Not really a cocktail. A ritual. The most civilized 60 seconds of any evening.
1 oz Fernet-Branca · 1 shot espresso · served side by side
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06Hanky Panky
London's century-old Fernet cocktail. Two dashes is all it takes to turn a gin Martinez into something darker and stranger.
1.5 oz Gin · 1.5 oz Sweet Vermouth · 2 dashes Fernet-Branca · orange peel
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07Toronto
A pre-Prohibition Old Fashioned variation built around Fernet-Branca. Spicy, dry, and bracing — the perfect winter sipper.
2 oz Rye Whiskey · ¼ oz Fernet-Branca · ¼ oz Simple Syrup · 2 dashes Angostura · orange peel
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08Cynar Negroni
The Negroni you order with dinner instead of before it. Artichoke replaces grapefruit-like bitterness with something deeper and savory.
1 oz Gin · 1 oz Cynar · 1 oz Sweet Vermouth · orange wheel
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09Bitter Giuseppe
Three ingredients, two of them amaro-adjacent, and one of the most quietly addictive amaro cocktails of the modern era.
2 oz Cynar · 1 oz Sweet Vermouth · ¼ oz Lemon Juice · 6 dashes Orange Bitters
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10Averna Sour
All of Averna's caramel-orange softness, wrapped in a pillow of egg-white foam. The amaro sour every cocktail geek should know.
2 oz Averna · ¾ oz Lemon Juice · ½ oz Simple Syrup · 1 egg white · Angostura
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11Naked & Famous
Equal parts mezcal, Yellow Chartreuse, Aperol, and lime. Smoky, herbal, bitter, and bright all at once.
¾ oz Mezcal · ¾ oz Yellow Chartreuse · ¾ oz Aperol · ¾ oz Lime Juice
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12Old Pal
Equal parts rye, dry vermouth, and Campari. Crisp, bitter, and bracingly aromatic — a Negroni with the sweetness dialed out.
1 oz Rye Whiskey · 1 oz Dry Vermouth · 1 oz Campari · Lemon Twist
Full recipe →
13Mezcal Negroni
Swap gin for mezcal and the classic Negroni transforms — smoky, savory, and deeply aromatic, with the same bitter backbone.
1 oz Mezcal · 1 oz Campari · 1 oz Sweet Vermouth · Orange Peel
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14Bicicletta
Lower in alcohol than an Aperol Spritz and far drier, the Bicicletta is what older Italians sip on their bikes between piazzas — hence the name.
2 oz Campari · 3 oz Dry White Wine · Soda Water · Lemon Wheel
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15Bensonhurst
Rye, dry vermouth, Cynar, and maraschino — a drier, more savory cousin of the Brooklyn with artichoke amaro standing in for Amer Picon.
2 oz Rye Whiskey · 1 oz Dry Vermouth · ¼ oz Cynar · ¼ oz Maraschino
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16Negroni Sbagliato
Equal parts Campari and sweet vermouth, topped with prosecco instead of gin. Lighter, brighter, and dangerously easy to drink.
1 oz Campari · 1 oz Sweet Vermouth · Prosecco · Orange Slice
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17Americano
Lower in alcohol, taller in glass, longer on the palate. The drink Hemingway and James Bond actually ordered before dinner.
1.5 oz Campari · 1.5 oz Sweet Vermouth · Soda Water · Orange Slice
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18Jungle Bird
Dark rum, Campari, pineapple, and lime — bittersweet, tropical, and impossibly balanced. The cocktail that converts skeptics on both sides.
1.5 oz Blackstrap Rum · ¾ oz Campari · 1.5 oz Pineapple Juice · ½ oz Lime Juice · ½ oz Simple Syrup
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19Garibaldi
Two ingredients, one technique. The right kind of orange juice — aerated to a frothy fluff — transforms a kid's drink into an Italian masterpiece.
1.5 oz Campari · 4 oz Fresh Orange Juice (fluffed) · Orange Slice
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20The Hard Start
Half a shot of Fernet, half a shot of Branca Menta — combined or sipped side by side. The drink bartenders pour for other bartenders at the end of a long shift.
½ oz Fernet-Branca · ½ oz Branca Menta
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21Ferrari
Named for the car, not the family — because it goes down fast. Fernet's menthol bite meets Campari's bittersweet orange in the simplest amaro drink there is.
1 oz Fernet-Branca · 1 oz Campari
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22Chef's Kiss
Herbaceous, tart, and startlingly balanced — Fernet-Branca standing in for the gin in a Last Word riff, with Yellow Chartreuse rounding out the mint.
¾ oz Fernet-Branca · ¾ oz Yellow Chartreuse · ¾ oz Lime Juice · ¾ oz Demerara Syrup
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23Gold Rusher
Bourbon, honey, and lemon — the Gold Rush — darkened and deepened with a measure of Fernet-Branca.
2 oz Bourbon · ¾ oz Lemon Juice · ¾ oz Honey Syrup · ½ oz Fernet-Branca
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24Nail in the Coffin
Nutty Madeira, vanilla-and-citrus Licor 43, and a bitter Fernet spine under soft Japanese whisky. Dark, layered, and slow to drink.
1½ oz Japanese Whisky · ¾ oz Dry Madeira · ½ oz Licor 43 · ¼ oz Fernet-Branca
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25Kanar Sazerac
Fernet-Branca and cognac form the base, simple syrup softens it, and a salt rim pulls the bitterness into focus.
1½ oz Cognac · 1 oz Fernet-Branca · ½ oz Simple Syrup · Angostura & Orange Bitters
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26MonteNegroni
Gin and Campari hold the bitter frame while Amaro Montenegro brings orange peel, rose and vanilla in place of vermouth.
1 oz Gin · 1 oz Campari · 1 oz Amaro Montenegro
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27Monte Paloma
A Paloma with an amaro backbone — blanco tequila and grapefruit soda lifted by Montenegro's orange-and-herb sweetness.
1½ oz Blanco Tequila · 1 oz Amaro Montenegro · ½ oz Fresh Lime · Grapefruit Soda
Full recipe →
28Italian Buck
Any dark amaro, spicy ginger beer, a squeeze of lime. Three ingredients, endlessly adjustable, and dangerously refreshing.
2 oz Amaro · ½ oz Fresh Lime · 4 oz Ginger Beer
Full recipe →Best Amaro Bars in America
City-by-city guides to the bars and restaurants with America's deepest amaro programs — NYC, San Francisco, Chicago, and New Orleans.
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From Averna and Montenegro to Fernet-Branca, Cynar and Braulio — the brand-by-brand guide to every essential Italian amaro.
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Coupe, Nick & Nora, rocks, highball — which glass to use for every amaro cocktail, and why it matters.
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One rare recipe and one producer story, delivered every Friday afternoon.