As I grow older, I increasingly crave bitter flavors. Capers, pickles, smoked fish, Gorgonzola—these are the tastes that most excite my jaded palate. Perhaps my taste buds are becoming dull with age, requiring sharper flavors to hit my pleasure buttons. Or maybe my heart grows a touch more bitter with each passing year. On the bright side, this has led me to geek out on Italian cocktails, particularly those infused with amari—liqueurs steeped with astringent botanicals like roots, tree bark, flowers, and herbs.
Many cultures have their celebrated bitter nostrums—Chartreuse in France, Jägermeister in Germany, Black Balsam in the Baltic states—but the Italians have perfected the art of crafting deeply nuanced, medicine-like drams. Traditionally, amari are used as digestifs, postprandial nips meant to settle the stomach after a rich meal. However, these fragrant potions make for cocktails that sing like Pavarotti in his golden era.
Below are some fabulous Italian bitter cocktails to make at home, a mix of familiar classics and a few one-off concoctions. Enjoy them with friends around the table, or savor them alone while brooding over a melancholic opera aria or a nostalgic love poem by Dante Alighieri.
