Nonino Grappa. While some may be familiar with the Nonino Amaro Quintessentia, it’s a bit less noted that it’s an amaro (Italian bittersweet liqueur) made from a base of grappa. And that the Nonino company has been a family business specializing in grappa since the late 1800s.

While grappa is still not a huge internationally popular product, in Italy you won’t make it very far without seeing it on a menu or backbar, where it’s often drank as a post-dinner digestif (sometimes also used to spike a morning espresso).

Grappa is made from grapes, and so is technically a brandy (any spirit made from fruit), but unlike fancy French brandies like Cognac or the Piscos of South America that are made from carefully selected grapes for their juice, grappa is actually a sort of byproduct of wine-making. The starting ingredient of grappa is pomace, which is the leftover peels, stems, pulp, and seeds from the already-pressed grapes used to make wine. In fact, grappa cannot be made from pure grape juice, but instead must contain the solids of the fruit. This produces a MUCH different flavor profile that is still very fragrant, but has some interesting earthy, oily ‘funk’ to it. Given the simplicity and abundance of used grapes in Italy, there’s quite some variance on the quality of grappa, but Nonino is definitely a safe choice.