Amaro

The Fanciulli cocktail is a variation on the Perfect Manhattan—bourbon or rye, and a split of sweet and dry vermouth—that replaces the dry vermouth with Fernet-Branca.

The Prizefighter No. 1 is a bold sour made with lemon, Fernet-Branca, and Carpano Antica sweet vermouth. 

Edgier than a classic Pimm’s Cup, this cocktail works well across many seasons.

Starring two bitter Italian liqueurs, bourbon, and lemon juice, this four-ingredient cocktail is as easy to make as it is to sip.

This twist on the whiskey sour adds blueberries—plus a touch of amaro and funky rum.

Bartender Kyle Davidson created this bitter and fresh Cynar cocktail in 2008 at The Violet Hour.

Bold cranberry mingles with bittersweet Cynar in this bitter and bubbly variation on the spritz cocktail.

The Trident cocktail is a riff on a negroni that uses Spain’s sherry, Italy’s Cynar, and Scandinavia’s aquavit.

Scorpion bowls are heavily boozed, sugared, and communally shared. These updated Apéritif Scorpion Bowls keep the fun and ditch the sting.

Where a margarita is usually sweetened with orange liqueur, the Rosalita uses bittersweet amaro. This version is chilled in your freezer before it heads to the blender with a big scoop of ice.

Put together spicy rye, smoky mezcal, and coffee-accented amaro, and it’s easy to understand why Joe Briglio, of Chicago’s Billy Sunday, describes this cocktail as “my interpretation of the flavors of the early American West and possibly a cowboy’s campfire.” The drink name is inspired by a Tom Waits song called “Goin’ Out West,” he adds.

This cocktail is a refreshing, slightly bitter spin on the Pimm’s Cup, thanks to the addition of Cynar, a vegetal Italian liqueur.

This luscious combination of hot cider and Averna is our favorite way to spike cider these days. Sweetened with citrusy Grand Marnier and enriched with salted butter, it’s the perfect hot drink to enjoy outdoors.

This sherry-Cynar Negroni riff was created by bartender Dan Greenbaum at The Beagle in New York City.

This bitter and juicy highball is one of the greatest hits at Fort Defiance in Brooklyn.

This Manhattan variation from Audrey Saunders of Pegu Club in NYC starts with rye and vermouth, then adds Cynar amaro to appealing effect. 

Thicker and creamier than the typical hot chocolate and embellished with both amaro and espresso. If you don’t have an espresso machine, use strong coffee instead.

Cynar, the artichoke-derived Italian liqueur, is popular in the Swiss border region of Ticino, where Italian is spoken; here, shot through with vermouth and soda, it maintains that bitter-followed-by-sweet sensation you get when eating an artichoke (plus a little fizz). And, like the vegetable itself, it goes well with cheese — which is to say it goes very well with the Appenzeller crisps below.