The Tasting Note
Warm amber-brown, with copper lights where the glass catches the room.
Orange peel and peppermint lead, anise close behind, and underneath it all a chamomile softness and a root-beer spice you can pick out from across the table.
Twenty-nine herbs, fruits, flowers and roots from Limbadi — sweet and bitter orange, mandarin, chamomile, juniper, licorice, anise, mint, hyssop — read as one rounded, confident whole rather than a list. Poured straight from the freezer, as Calabria drinks it, the sweetness tightens and the texture turns almost syrupy; at cellar temperature honey, vanilla and bitter orange step forward instead.
Mint and licorice do the cooling work, and the sugar clears faster than the ABV suggests.
Approachable without being timid — the rare crowd-pleaser that still has teeth. Keep the bottle in the freezer and pour it into small glasses; it also lengthens well with soda and a fat orange peel.
Drink now.
— Robert Cross
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Pour It Into
The Amaro Spritz
Lighter, more herbal, and far more sophisticated than its neon cousin.
Amaro Highball
Three ingredients, one tall glass, the cleanest way to learn what an amaro really tastes like.
Caffè Corretto
The Italian way to end any meal: a thimble of amaro alongside a fresh espresso.
Amaro Espresso Martini
Espresso martini with the sugar pulled out and Averna dropped in.
Amaro Mule
Ginger beer and bitter herbs in a frosted copper mug.
Where to Buy
Where to buy Vecchio Amaro del Capo
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Newsletter
The Bitter Brief
One short Friday dispatch: a bottle worth buying, a cocktail worth mixing, and a little Italian history.