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Reddit mentions of Amaro: The Spirited World of Bittersweet, Herbal Liqueurs, with Cocktails, Recipes, and Formulas
Sentiment score: 3
Reddit mentions: 3
We found 3 Reddit mentions of Amaro: The Spirited World of Bittersweet, Herbal Liqueurs, with Cocktails, Recipes, and Formulas. Here are the top ones.
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Ten Speed Press
Specs:
| Color | Navy |
| Height | 9.3 Inches |
| Length | 6.8 Inches |
| Number of items | 1 |
| Release date | October 2016 |
| Weight | 1.81219979364 Pounds |
| Width | 1.1 Inches |
This is a side-by-side-by-side review / overview of three different bitter liqueurs.
General Notes & Methodology:
Amaro is an Italian word that simply means bitter. The word amari is the plural of amaro. It is a word used to describe a broad class of liqueurs that have a distinctive, bitter note as part of the flavor profile. Though technically the words amaro and amari are Italian, they can be used (and often are) to describe bitter alcoholic preparations from all over the world.
Most of these products have recipes that are generations old, steeped in mystery and legend. Most were originally developed for medicinal purposes, or as apertivo, to stimulate appetite before a meal, or digestivo, to be taken after a meal to aid digestion.
Because enjoyment is largely personal taste, rather than rating on a 0-100 scale as one might in a spirit review, I will assign a value between 0 and 4 and give some tasting notes on several characteristics. In each case, a 0 rating on a given characteristic means it is non-existent in that spirit, where a 4 means it a primary characteristic and thus very strong.
All spirits are poured, rested, and sampled neat at room temperature unless otherwise noted.
JÄGERMEISTER
Jägermeister... what can one say about it? We likely all have at least one questionable memory that involves it. Thanks to an aggressive marketing plan involving scantily clad Jägerettes, beefy Jäger Dudes, and the seemingly unquenchable desire for college "dare shots", this German digestif has forged a solid presence in popular culture. It is the rare college bar indeed that does not have it well stocked in the freezer, or set up on specially designed frozen shot dispensers.
Originally designed to be taken after a heavy meal to aid digestion, it has been produced since the early 1930's in Germany. The name literally translates to English as "hunting master", thus the iconography of the stag and cross representing Saints Eustace and Hubertus, the patron saints of hunters, and the verse from Oscar von Reisenthal's poem Weidmannsheil on the label.
Though its recipe of 56 botanicals is a secret, it is known to include, licorice, saffron, anise, ginger, juniper berries, and poppy seeds. After blending, Jägermeister is aged in oak barrels for approximately a year before being bottled in its iconic, green, rectangular bottle.
On the nose Jägermeister is rich and herbal with a hint of bitter spice. It is sweet on the palate, but packs a strong herbal and medicinal punch. There are strong notes of menthol, eucalyptus, and cinnamon, with a bit of allspice and burnt caramel bitter-sweetness.
I know you've probably had a frozen shot, or perhaps a Jäger Bomb (a shot dropped in Red Bull), but I would encourage you to try a sample neat at room temperature. There is a great deal of complexity and nuance that is lost when served ice cold, though that is the recommendation on the back label.
Jägermeister is having a bit of a renaissance behind the bar, and beginning to be taken a bit more seriously as a cocktail ingredient. Beyond just the college drinks like the Liquid Heroin and Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, there are now some more civilized uses as well. This Liquor.com article does a good job introducing a few.
At $20 or so for a 750mL bottle, this is easy to add to the bar
UNDERBERG
Underberg, the digestif shot you might even be able to pick up in the grocery store. These iconic mini-bottles, wrapped in brown paper and shipped in bright green boxes and tins, have long been available even in places without liquor licenses because of a quirk of US government classification. It is also available in bulk packaging on Amazon, even in the US.
Each bottle contains 2/3 oz of an intensely bitter herbal mixture that even according to the label "... is not a beverage. Not to be sipped, but taken all at once, and quickly, because of its aromatic strong taste".
The things I do for science... sitting here sipping my Underberg!
On the nose it is hot and earthy, with a spicy note combining star anise, allspice and something herbal, perhaps oregano or marjoram. On the palate it is brightly bitter, with a blast of rooty gentian followed by that same star-anise/allspice finish. If I take time to pick it apart a bit, I also get cloves (with their lip numbing quality) and pepper on my tongue.
This is gorgeous taken neat (either as a shot, or sipped) and does indeed settle the stomach after a heavy meal. It is also becoming more popular as an ingredient in a few remarkable cocktails.
The Snowball in Hell from Mark Bittermans Field Guide (see link below) is a boozy, bitter root beer float with Underberg and other bitters.
The Ice-Berg, which I first saw in Brad Thomas Parsons, Amaro (again, see link below) is a riff somewhere between a Margarita and a Mai Tai that uses the bitter in the recipe and the bottle as a garnish. Here is the recipe on Lucky Peach
At a buck or two a bottle (cheaper when you buy in bulk) you can collect as many green and red caps as possible and trade them in for some cool "loyalty" prizes, including stemmed digestif glasses, metal signs, and even a bandolier to hold you bottles.
HOFLAND MEESTERBITTER
I really wish I had something unique to say about this. I picked up a 750mL bottle for $13 at Total Wine, hoping to have another unique flavor profile to add to my cabinet. No such luck.
If given this blind, I would 100% believe it was Jägermeister. Even side-by-side with Jäger, I can only detect a very faint difference. Nose is nearly identical. Palate of the Hofland seems murkier somehow, not as crisp and defined as Jägermeister, but the notes are very similar. Biggest difference to me is on the finish. Hofland is thinner and a bit tannic, where the Jäger lingers with a sweet, herbal, slow fade.
Ahh well, it's a good sub for my couple of friends that love Jäger Bombs, and like I said, it's dirt cheap.
Wrap Up:
Amari, and other bitter liqueurs... Test them, try them, see what your palate likes. There are lots of good resources out there (see a couple below) but nothing replaces actually tasting it.
I strongly recommend the following:
Thanks for reading. Again, I welcome any feedback you might have. Next up... back to a couple more bottles of single malt, and then perhaps a few blends over on r/Scotch
~Cheers!
I've been experimenting with frozen cocktails for some backyard weddings I'm bartending this summer here in pdx. If anyone has experience with slush machines hit me up with your 2 cents.
credit: Brad Thomas Parsons excellent book Amaro
Yeah, if there's a bar, and you're the person behind it preparing the drinks, then you're the bartender.
Start researching the category of Amaro, or Italian bitter liqueurs. Here's a great book that came out pretty recently: Amaro
Campari, Aperol, Montenegro, Averna, Abano, Meletti, Lucano, Braulio, Cynar, Nonino, Ramazzotti, Cappelletti, Nardini, etc. And of course, the Fernet sub-category. Branca is the most well known of these.
There's a world of Italian cocktails out there, and many play well with food. Aperol Spritz, Americano, Milano-Torino, Bicicletta, Negroni, Garibaldi, Cardinale, Bellini, etc.