Ingredients
Named for nepitella (Calamintha nepeta), the wild catmint that grows across Sicilian hillsides and flavours the island's cooking. The infusion balances that cool minty herb against citrus peel and bitter roots.
- ✦Nepitella (wild calamint)
- ✦Sicilian lemon peel
- ✦Bitter orange peel
- ✦Gentian root
- ✦Wormwood
- ✦Wild fennel
History of the Brand
Nepitella is a Sicilian kitchen herb before it is a spirits botanical — it goes into mushrooms, artichokes and stewed vegetables across the island.
Craft Sicilian distillers turned to it as a signature of place, the way alpine houses reach for pine and gentian.
The bottle belongs to the recent wave of regional amari making a virtue of a single hyper-local plant rather than a secret sixty-herb blend.
It drinks noticeably fresher than the island's older, heavier bitters.
Tasting Characteristics
Wild mint, lemon zest, warm dry grass.
Cooling calamint over bright Sicilian citrus, with a moderate gentian bitterness underneath.
Clean and mentholated rather than heavy.
Flavor meter
How to serve it
- 01Straight from the freezer in a chilled glass.
- 02Over ice with soda and a lemon wheel.
- 03In a mint-forward riff on the Amaro Spritz.
- 04Split with mezcal in a Naked & Famous variation.
Where to Get It
Small-production and regional; mostly Sicily and specialist importers.
Sicilian shops
Easiest around Catania, Palermo and the Etna towns.
Specialist importers
Appears with other craft Sicilian bottlings.
Online retailers
Limited allocations; sells through quickly.
Where to buy Amaro Nepeta
We may earn a commission when you buy through these links, at no extra cost to you. See our affiliate disclosure.
Amaro Nepeta FAQ
What is nepitella?
+
Calamintha nepeta, a wild mint that grows across Sicily and central Italy and is used widely in Italian cooking.
Is Amaro Nepeta very bitter?
+
Moderately. The mint and citrus dominate; the gentian bitterness sits underneath rather than out front.