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Cocktails

Top Up Your Amaro

April 21, 2023

Story: Punch Staff

photo: Shannon Sturgis

Cocktails

Top Up Your Amaro

April 21, 2023

Story: Punch Staff

photo: Shannon Sturgis

Six easy recipes for refreshing, bittersweet highballs.

Most commonly served neat, each amaro is a complex cocktail unto itself. But that hasn’t stopped bartenders from throwing the bittersweet liqueurs into mixed drinks of every style, from Margaritas to cobblers to Daiquiris. One of the most refreshing ways to mix with amaro, however, is almost as simple as a neat pour: Enter the amaro highball.

To construct one, pair amaro with the modifiers of your choice and lengthen with a sparkling topper. The Second Serve, for example, adds fino sherry to Amaro Montenegro, alongside lime juice for acidity and simple syrup for balance. Others in the canon replace the tonic water with ginger beer: The Italian Buck combines that piquant flavor with Cynar and Montenegro, while The Waterfront contrasts the spicy kick of ginger with cooling, minty Branca Menta.

Amaro Cocktail Recipe
Recipes

Second Serve

A softer-hitting drink combining Amaro Montenegro and fino sherry in a friendly Spain vs. Italy matchup.

Italian Buck
Recipes

Italian Buck

An Italian spin on the classic buck cocktail.

Fernet Cocktail Recipe
Recipes

The Waterfront

"The darkest Dark 'n' Stormy" courtesy of Fernet-Branca evangelist Damon Boelte.

Even when amaro’s not in the starring role, it can add dimension to just about any highball-style cocktail. The Averna Smash, for instance, bolsters the namesake amaro with bitter lemon soda, while the Session Dark ’n’ Stormy pairs rich Montenegro with a smaller measure of blackstrap rum to achieve the familiar caramel notes of the classic. And, used in conjunction with liqueurs, amari can balance out tropical, fruit-forward flavors. In the Iz Bananaz, for instance, Montenegro acts as a bridge between grassy cachaça and funky banana liqueur.

But the easiest way to construct the highball, keeping it to two ingredients, is by simply topping amaro with tonic. Amaro Meletti or other bottlings that have a cola-like profile are excellent in the two-part format, says Hayley Wilson, bartender at Portland, Maine’s Hunt + Alpine Club. And Cynar, with its distinctive vegetal notes, works well, too. According to New York’s Joaquín Simó, the bracing flavors “open up” in this format, and “a bubbly mixer ensures imminent quaffability.”

Recipes

Averna Smash

A bittersweet smash made tall by sparkling lemon soda.

low proof dark 'n' stormy recipe
Recipes

Session Dark ‘n’ Stormy

Amaro Montenegro plays the role of the base spirit in this low-proof spin on the Dark 'n' Stormy,

Iz Bananas Amaro Cocktail Recipe
Recipes

Iz Bananaz

The odd mix of cachaça and Amaro Montenegro blends together seamlessly with toasty banana liqueur.

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