amaro spritz.
INGREDIENTS
2 ounces amaro (I used Pergoté Amaro D'Erbe)
4-6 ounces prosecco or sparkling rosé
2-4 ounces sparkling water or club soda
Orange wheel, for garnish
RECIPE
Fill a white wine glass with ice.
Pour amaro over ice.
Pour sparkling wine over ice.
Top with soda or sparkling water. Stir gently to combine.
Add the orange wheel. Serve with a straw.
I love cocktails. I really do. But I hate making them.
It’s like the sandwich effect, I guess: Some things just taste better when someone else makes them for you.
Thus, I usually have a bottle of wine on hand for easy pours. Not too sweet, not too complicated. Just trusty wine and a glass.
Every so often, though, I do enjoy something different, and I like when it can be simple. Spritzes are the perfect thing for the days when you want a little more than just a glass of wine.
Maybe the Italians have similar cocktail sentiments as I do?
about amaro
Amaro is a bitter (some say herbal) liqueur made with herbs and spices. It is essentially an infused alcohol using spirits like grape brandy, almost always with a bittersweet flavor and herbal aftertaste. It’s not for everyone, and often it takes some getting used to.
Amaro can take many forms, from Campari to Nonino. You’ve seen them used before, in cocktails like the Paper Plane, Aperol Spritz, or most famously, the Negroni.
Amaro doesn’t have to be mixed into cocktails, though, and can be drank on its own as a digestif. If you happen to find one you love, try it over ice after dinner.
Personally, I like amari in spritzes. An apertivo bar just opened near us and it’s such a treat — all the bittersweet Italian flavors you could ask for. Something about the bubbles and the bitter aftertaste brings you to a different place (That place is Italy, there’s no being elusive about it).
The amaro I’ve been using recently is pictured below: Pergoté Amaro D’erbe. After researching for awhile (read: redditing) I discovered that this amaro is made for/by Total Wine only to be sold in Total Wine. That is to say, likely, this amaro is some type of off-brand liqueur with a pretty label. Some people really hate it for this reason, but I don’t really see a reason to hate it. It tastes good and costs less than $15. Unless it’s like, sewer water, I don’t care what it really is. If it tasted terrible, I’d have different opinions.
In other words, find an amaro you like and use that. Unless your goal is to make an Aperol spritz, use a dark, caramel-colored amaro with a sweet, rich flavor.
Sparkling water or club soda completes a spritz and offers a dryness that turns it into a much more mellow drink than, say, a French 75 or Kir Royale. Especially if you aren’t used to spritzes, the sparkling water might seem like something you can write off. Don’t — you’ll be missing a vital quality of the apertif. It should be light, effervescent, and should fill the glass. If you need more sugar, try Sprite instead (I actually found this makes the bitter flavor more pronounced, though).
Enjoy.
Serves: 1
Prep time: 3 minutes Cook Time: 0 minutes
Start with a splash and adjust to taste.
this cup basically needed 4 spritz’ worth to fill all the way. not a solid spritz glass, but so pretty.
