Amaro Cocktails

*I was sent Averna Amaro to use for this post. All opinions and thoughts are mine. 

Have you guys ever had Amaro cocktails before? It is an italian liquor that is bittersweet with herbal notes.  It is sometimes used as a digestif, you know, in places and with people who take their cocktails SERIOUSLY. I’ve never seen anyone request a digestif.  Ever.

I first got to try Amaro in Las Vegas and thought it was super interesting and always wanted to learn more about it. So I decided to mix a cocktail with it.  You know when I am just learning about something, I prefer to use an established recipe and get a feel for how experts use it. I just like to dabble in the drinks so my knowledge is not broad. I picked a recipe that had some of my favorite flavors as I thought that would be a good way to see how the Amaro works in a beverage.

Any drink with ginger beer is a friend of mine. I find it so refreshing and flavorful and I often drink it straight out of the bottle. It is my soda of choice. I also love me some Meyer lemons, they have this wonderful sweetness to them that I just adore (not odd at all that I adore a fruit, right?).  And then I made an orange flavored vodka. 

In the past, I sucked at making cocktails. Even if I followed a recipe, they just never turned out well. Looking back, I think it had to do with the quality of ingredients. I’m certain I used bottled lemon juice (ew) and inferior brands of liquor (ew).  As I have really begun to take notice of when recipes turn out well and why, I really have to put a lot of focus on the fresh citrus. I really think that, for me, the fresh juice is where it’s at. I don’t like anything that is overly sweet so the fresh juices help to balance the flavors. 

This orange infused vodka is my newest fave.  It was so easy to make and adds a really great depth of flavor to the drink.  The orange flavor is subtle but delightful. 

A lot of times when I am shooting cocktail posts, my kids always want to be in the pictures.  Not this day.  I turned around and this is what I found.  Kids will be kids.  And also sometimes airplanes. 

The Averna Amaro was really nice.  I felt like it added a nice spice to the drink.  I would liken it to bitters.  It adds a caramel color to the drinks you make with it and I think this would go really well in fall cocktails. There is a richness that would maybe feel a bit heavy in summer drinks? Maybe. But of course it can be done.