amaro coffee parliament bar dallas amor y amargo cocktail sprudge

Coffee gets combined with stuff all the time: coffee and cream, coffee and cookies, coffee and professional ambition, coffee and teenaged ennui. This week, we want you to try something new: combining amaro liqueur and coffee. Amaro is a general term for a kindย of flavorful European spirit that is gaining popularity in the US, and whichย isย just complex enough to make it a fun challenge to combine with coffee’s own infinite complexities. But instead of handing youย another recipe, I sought out the wisdom ofย a few bartenders to keep you ahead of the curve and explainย how to build your own coffee & amaro cocktails at home.

Amaro is an Italian digestif, traditionallyย served neat in a small glass. Much like coffee, amari come inย a wide range of flavors, and different brands have made themselves famous for different flavor notesโ€”Fernet-Branca is bold and minty, while Nonino is more delicate and tamarind-like. Amari recipes are often well-guarded secrets, and producers use specific blends of herbs and spices passed down through generations. Much like the same bean coming fromย twoย roasters can taste vastly different, no two amariโ€”even with the same ingredientsโ€”taste quite the same. This is what got meย excited about the liqueur: finding a way to highlight its natural flavor profiles while still creating something new.

amaro coffee parliament bar dallas amor y amargo cocktail sprudge

I originally thought two such complexย and flavorful drinks like coffee and amaro would be difficult to combine, but Lindsay Matteson, the head bartender of Amor y Amargoย in Manhattan’s East Village, convinced me theyโ€™re actually a match made in beverage heaven. โ€œThey’re two sides of the same coin,” Matteson tells me, and she should knowโ€”her bar’s Double Buzz weekend coffee cocktail program is helping to push forward new and exciting coffee & amaro recipes each weekend. “Theyโ€™re both after-dinner drinks because that bitterness helps settle your stomach. Theyโ€™re a perfect complement to each other.โ€

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So how do you combine these complicated flavor profiles? Start with your goal in mind: Do you want an herbaceous cocktail, or something sweet? A hot drink or cold? After that, it becomes a matter of finding ingredients with the flavor profile youโ€™re looking for. Matteson encourages peopleย to โ€œthink about what [each]ย ingredient hasโ€”taste it on its own, break down the flavors, [then] think of flavors that complement that.โ€ Instead of a firm category like a “whisky cocktail,” think about what each ingredient adds to the cocktail.

amaro coffee parliament bar dallas amor y amargo cocktail sprudge

In that same vein, Matteson also recommends tasting all your ingredients in the stateย youโ€™re going to use themโ€”because, as we know from brewing coffee, temperature plays a huge role in the flavors we taste. Cooler temperatures bring out bitter flavors, andย amaro is going to taste very different heated than at room temperature. To workย out the proportions for your ingredients, startย from a templateโ€”like the recipe for a Negroniโ€”and sub in coffee for one of the ingredients, like the vermouth.

Thereโ€™s a trend in cocktail bars to make drinks with fewer ingredients in order to streamline bar flow, but coffee complicates that idea. While the two bitter profiles of amaro and coffee complement each other well, the flavors are intense enough that they need to be tempered with others to achieve the ultimate goal: balance. Finding that balance is where things get fun. To learn more, Iย had a few drinks with Drew Garison, creative director of award-winning Dallas cocktail bar Parliament, and he made meย two very different cocktails.

One followed Garisonโ€™s recommendation to simplify everything: he added a few drops of coffee tincture to banana liqueur and an amaro. The result was a complex flavor profile that kept me coming back for the next sip, and the next, in a drink that seemed to change form each time I tried it. The other was an adventure, a throwback to the tiki drinks currently enjoying their own resurgence in popularity: cold-brew coffee, pineapple juice, rum, dry vermouth, and fernet. โ€œIt doesnโ€™t make sense on paper,โ€ Garison said of the combination, but the drink was balanced and refreshing. โ€œAs intense as those flavor profiles are, [this] goes to show you how versatile [coffee and amaro] are.โ€

amaro coffee parliament bar dallas amor y amargo cocktail sprudge

I took the knowledge Matteson and Garison shared and tried to build a couple of cocktails. The first combined Averna, dry curaรงao, brewed coffee, and pineapple juice; the result was too sweet, but on the right track. The second I started with a vermouth wash, then filled the glass with Nonino, bourbon, brewed coffee, and a twist of lemon. It still wasnโ€™t perfect, but it was more balanced.

For many, amari is a brand new realm of complex beverage, and like coffee, the flavor profiles make the possible delicious combinations endless. Start by visiting the best liquor store near where you live, and do a little research online for the type of amari you might want to stock for your home bar. Like most good things in life, prices vary depending on how fancy you want to go, but a standard bottle of Fernet runs around $30, while Averna amaro should be more like $20. Mix and match, try stuff out, and visit a nice cocktail bar in your area for inspiration.

Mattesonโ€™s final advice: โ€œDonโ€™t be afraid to try things together. You know what you likeโ€”we all know what we like. Trust that.โ€ Happy drinking, and tell us what you came up with.

Valorie Clarkย (@TheValorieClark) is a freelance journalist based in Texas. This is Valorie Clark’s first feature for Sprudge.com.ย 

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