We’ve talked history, we’ve argued definitions, we’ve dug through recipes from Turin to Marseille – but now it’s time to make it simple.
Here’s your cheat sheet to aperitifs, vermouths, and amaro. One page, all the essentials. Print it, save it, or keep it behind the bar. Because if you know what’s in the bottle, you’ll always know how to use it.
Vermouth
- Definition: Fortified wine aromatized with botanicals, with wormwood as the star.
- Base: White wine + grape spirit or mistelle (wine must + spirit).
- Main Styles:
- Extra Dry – 18–20% ABV, <40g sugar/L
- Bianco – 16% ABV, 100–150g sugar/L
- Rosso/Sweet – 15–17% ABV, ~150g sugar/L
- Famous Types:
- Vermouth di Torino (Carpano, Cocchi, Martini Rubino)
- Chinato (Punt e Mes, Cocchi Dopo Teatro)
- Alla Vaniglia (Carpano Antica Formula)
- Bianco (Martini, Cinzano, Gancia)
- French Dry (Noilly Prat, Dolin)
Quinquina
- Key Botanical: Cinchona bark → quinine.
- Origin: 1830s France, used against malaria.
- Taste: Bitter, herbal, citrus.
- Examples: Dubonnet, Lillet (ex-Kina Lillet), Byrrh, Bonal.
🇮🇹 Americano
- Definition: Fortified wine with gentian + wormwood.
- Origin: Italy, as an answer to French quinquina.
- Profile: Bitterer than vermouth, lighter than amaro.
- Examples: Cocchi Americano, Contratto Americano.
Amaro
- Definition: Italian herbal liqueur with a bitter-sweet profile.
- Production: Botanicals macerated in spirit, sweetened, aged.
- Sub-Styles:
- Bitters/Aperitifs: Campari, Aperol, Suze
- Light: Amaro Nonino, Vecchio del Capo
- Medium: Averna, Montenegro, Ramazzotti
- Alpine: Zara, Alpino (mountain herbs)
- Carciofo: Cynar (artichoke-based)
- Rabarbaro: Zucco (rhubarb)
- Tartufo: Umbrian truffle amaro
- China: China Martini (quinine again!)
- Fernet: Fernet-Branca, Luxardo Fernet (the sharp, bracing kind)
Rule of thumb:
If it’s wine-based → Aperitif (vermouth/quinquina/americano).
If it’s spirit-based → Amaro.
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