Cynar (pronounced chee-nar) – artichoke liqueur, whaaat?! As strange as it sounds, Cynar is a modest 16.5% ABV amaro made with artichoke (aka “cynara scolymus”), along with 12 other herbs/plants. As with all Italian amaro, it’s an intense bittersweet liqueur oozing of herbal flavors that are difficult to describe, great for post-dinner digestif sips to aid with digestion (tho I prefer it for cocktails).

As for flavor, I would say it’s somewhat similar-ish to Campari (a suitable sub that’ll add a nice twist to any Campari drink), though with more vegetal/earthy tones, hints of honey, and significantly less citrus. Now I’m not a huge artichoke eater (the food to effort ratio is just not worth it!) so I can’t comment on how much it really tastes like artichoke, but it’s definitely an ingredient that will play well with others in cocktails and for sure doesn’t taste like you’re dunking weird vegetable juice into your drinks.

Though Cynar has been around since the 50s, it’s definitely one ingredient that’s becoming increasingly more popular in modern mixology creations…for good reason! I always forget how tasty this is – need to use it more often!

Check here for recipe ideas, and give this a spin by subbing the Campari in your Negroni with Cynar, or try it simply on ice with some orange juice or soda water, a popular way of imbibing this amaro in Italy.