Recipes in the Club use a lot
of amari. (That’s the pleural form of
amaro, although I immediately sound like an “actually…” guy whenever I say it,
so I’ll try to use the singular as much as possible.) We know that an amaro, speaking extremely
generally, is neutral spirit + bittering agent(s) + herbs/spices/aromatics +
sugar. What’s interesting is how these
amazing bittersweet liqueurs are used in Europe compared to how they’re used in
the U.S. In Italy and much of
continental Europe, a small pour of room-temperature amaro is often consumed after
dinner as a digestif (digestive aid). These
are typically the darker, stronger amaro varieties, meant to help settle the
stomach. Lighter types of amari
(Campari, Aperol – pretty much anything clear or red) are usually consumed
before dinner as an apertif to stimulate the appetite. In the U.S., of course, if we drink an amaro
at all it’s almost always in a cocktail.
It’s thought that, because we ‘Muricans prefer things that are sweet
rather than bitter, we needed cocktails as a way to initially appreciate an
amaro’s flavor. The Manhattan Transfer
takes advantage of a terrific amaro to add complexity to a Manhattan. Phil Ward came up with it in 2008 at Death
& Co. Ramazzotti is an Italian amaro
created over 200 years ago. With notes
of baking spices, chocolate, and mint, it’s great to sip on its own and really
elevated this Manhattan.
Recipe
1 oz dry vermouth
1 oz Ramazzotti Amaro
1 dash orange bitters
-Stir ingredients with ice. Strain into chilled coup or Nick & Nora. No garnish.
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