Coffee and roasted chicory root, with cardamom, dried orange, cacao nib, gentian, New York state honey, chinchona bark, and many others! 21 botanicals in all.

Our Amaro is produced in small batches in Greenport, NY.

We macerate as a single batch infusion, having found that we achieved a robust, cohesive, and more pleasurable product this way rather than by blending smaller individual tinctures (which is how we initially started).

All botanicals steep in 102 proof spirit, allowing extraction of both alcohol and water-soluble compounds, for 15 days. It is then strained, sweetened with local honey and Belgian candi syrup, and brought down to 64 proof before being added to rye whiskey barrels for a minimum of three months.

The barrel provides natural filtration that softens any remaining sharp edges as well as providing a little extra color and, of course, a nice chunk of whiskey on the nose and palate.

Amaro is an enormous category, loosely defined as a bitter, herbal liqueur. Most famously produced in Italy–the very word means bitter in Italian–most European countries make some sort of bitter draught. Amaro ranges in style from relatively sweet, citrusy, and floral to the very intensely herbal, tannic, and mouth-cleansingly bitter. Amaro is both aperitivo and digestivo. The recipes, all famously secret, come from all over. They are derived from formulas of the monasteries, traditional medicines, and family histories.

Ours is a new recipe, in comparison, only about eight years old. It’s a nod to southern coffee drinking, adding a healthy dose of roasted chicory to the blend, and taking a cue from the Italian caffè corretto. Not so sweet as to be considered a coffee liqueur, and dry even in comparison to some other traditional amari, the supporting herbs and spices make this a well-balanced sipper.