Suze Saveur d’Autrefois Gentian Aperitif. Suze is a French bitter liqueur primarily flavored by yellow gentian root. Gentian is a suuuuper popular herbal ingredient used in a lot of famous botanical liqueurs – Campari, Angostura bitters, and many more. Suze (and its sister products like Salers, Aveze, etc) will give…
Rinomato Aperitivo. This is an aperitivo-style bittersweet liqueur that falls somewhere in between Campari and Aperol. While today’s Negroni-obsessed cocktail culture is increasingly embracing bittersweet flavors, I know there are plenty of people who’ve yet to develop a palate for the bitter viscous intensity of Campari, and while Aperol is absolutely delicious,…
Don Ciccio & Figli Cinque Aperitivo. Negroni Week is in full swing…are you maybe out of Campari, tired of Campari, can’t stand Campari? Well, let’s about about other Bitters. American-made Don Ciccio & Figli Cinque is a reddish liqueur highlighting bitter orange and gentian, an obvious alternative to Campari/Aperol. Compared to…
CH Distillery Rubin Bitter Grapefruit Aperitif. OMG I have found my bitter soulmate. So, this is a very bitter, very unique grapefruit liqueur/amaro made at a craft distillery in Chicago. I discovered this at a bar last month, and it absolutely blew my mind. I’ll say, this strong flavor is…
Lo-Fi Gentian Amaro. This is a classic California-made amaro that highlights the beauty of this region I now call home. I discovered this at the Craft Spirits Carnival earlier this summer in San Francisco, where I tasted all 3 of the Lofi products – sweet vermouth, dry vermouth, and this…
Campari. Although I’ve refrained from actually incorporating Campari in my Negroni variations this week, we obviously cannot go thru Negroni Week without talking about the famous Campari. Campari is an Italian bittersweet liqueur that is traditionally drank as an aperitif before dinner to open up the appetite, usually with water/ice…
Aperol, the lighter, fruitier, less bitter cousin of the more well-known Campari. Have you heard of the Aperol Spritz? If so, that’s living proof that the company’s humongous marketing efforts are paying off. Aperol has invested heavily in advertising over the past half century, with their first commercial launched in…
St. George Distillery in Alameda California was my first venture into small-operation craft distilling (back when it was still Hangar One)….I don’t think I even knew what a distillery was before my visit/tour at St. George! As such, there’s a very fond place in my heart for this amazing operation,…