Can you ship Amaro when warm/hot?

[James_Dennis]

I enjoy Jefferson Amaro Importante when I can find it when in Italy. I have yet to see it in the US, but haven’t searched in awhile. It was recommended by the bartender at Il Marchese Osteria, which bills itself as Rome’s first Amari bar. We did an Amari tasting that included some older bottles. Jefferson Amaro Importante was the one that stood out in our opinion.

[Oliver_McCrum]

We ship Amaro refrigerated because we ship everything refrigerated, but I doubt that it makes a difference.

John, I didn’t know you were a fan, remind me next time you’re in town and we’ll have a tasting.

Excellent idea!

I’ve found the ones I like best are mostly from Piemonte, and from Turin, in particularly. Are there any made in the Langhe? Or amaro unnecessary because of chinato?

We have a producer from the city of Cuneo, Bordiga, who makes a bunch of different ones (all their own infusions). And a bunch of others.

[Oliver_McCrum]

John,

if it was the Cappelletti ‘Elisir Novasalus’ you had I don’t blame you, that stuff is ferocious.

[John_Kight]

For those around NYC, Astor Wines has by far the largest amaro selection I’ve found. But ignore the shelf talkers. I found them useless. They didn’t even mention pine in some of the most piney, and didn’t comment on the style (sweetness, alcohol, bitterness).

Also, there’s a bitters bar in the East Village called Amaro Amore or something like that (I can’t find it via Google). If you can put up with the surly, arrogant hipster bartender, you can taste through a wide range there.

It’s called Amor y Amargo. It’s a great little bar. I accidentally stumbled on it at one point, and that sparked my interest in Amari. They have all kinds of great cocktails featuring Amari, but the best thing to do there is to have a flight of some of their more rare, difficult to find items…Their bartenders would all tell you that while Amari often work great in cocktails, they were intended to be drank neat, and that’s the best way experience them. This is actually quite critical if you then want to be able to intuitively figure out which ones might (or might not) actually work in a specific cocktail combination. Some are distinctly better with Scotch as opposed to Bourbon, for example, and some go great with Tequila and/or Mezcal, while others just don’t. (Cynar and Montenegro are both great Mezcal and Tequila partners, BTW).

[Sarah_Kirschbaum]

Also, there’s a bitters bar in the East Village called Amaro Amore or something like that (I can’t find it via Google). If you can put up with the surly, arrogant hipster bartender, you can taste through a wide range there.

I don’t know if you caught someone on an off night, but every bartender I’ve encountered on the 5-6 times I’ve been has been friendly and helpful.

[Alan_Rath]

We ship Amaro refrigerated because we ship everything refrigerated, but I doubt that it makes a difference.

This is a more general question I have: are infused liquors not susceptible to heat damage? Like Vermouth, bitters, Amaro? I would think that the compounds being extracted would be damaged by heat, just like flavor compounds in wine.

[John_Kight]

Also, there’s a bitters bar in the East Village called Amaro Amore or something like that (I can’t find it via Google). If you can put up with the surly, arrogant hipster bartender, you can taste through a wide range there.

I don’t know if you caught someone on an off night, but every bartender I’ve encountered on the 5-6 times I’ve been has been friendly and helpful.

Agreed. I think you have to make clear (via your questions) that you’re actually interested/curious and not just there to slam back a few tasty cocktails. Once that’s out of the way, I’ve always found them to be very friendly (and typically you wind up with some free tastes and/or “swag”, such as stickers, buttons, etc. ).

That said, I think the “arrogant hipster” description isn’t necessarily inaccurate, but to some extent it just kind of comes with the territory when you are at an extremely small, niche-y, bar in either the East Village, Lower East Side, or Brooklyn, that specializes in a thing (Amari and bitters more generally) that 99% of people have either never heard of (Amari), or with respect to bitters more generally, their only awareness is that it’s “something bitter people put in their drinks for some reason”. I’m sure they get a lot of customers that really have no intellectual curiosity whatsoever and just heard somewhere that they’ve got good cocktails…

[Oliver_McCrum]

We ship Amaro refrigerated because we ship everything refrigerated, but I doubt that it makes a difference.

This is a more general question I have: are infused liquors not susceptible to heat damage? Like Vermouth, bitters, Amaro? I would think that the compounds being extracted would be damaged by heat, just like flavor compounds in wine.

You know, Alan, my answer was glib and may well be wrong. I was assuming that sugar and alcohol were in some way protective, but I don’t know that. We treat them as if they were wine all along the chain in any case.

Certainly a key point with good vermouth is to leave it in the 'fridge and use it up, it definitely oxidizes otherwise.

[John_Morris]

Also, there’s a bitters bar in the East Village called Amaro Amore or something like that (I can’t find it via Google). If you can put up with the surly, arrogant hipster bartender, you can taste through a wide range there.

I don’t know if you caught someone on an off night, but every bartender I’ve encountered on the 5-6 times I’ve been has been friendly and helpful.

Agreed. I think you have to make clear (via your questions) that you’re actually interested/curious and not just there to slam back a few tasty cocktails. Once that’s out of the way, I’ve always found them to be very friendly (and typically you wind up with some free tastes and/or “swag”, such as stickers, buttons, etc. ).

That said, I think the “arrogant hipster” description isn’t necessarily inaccurate, but to some extent it just kind of comes with the territory when you are at an extremely small, niche-y, bar in either the East Village, Lower East Side, or Brooklyn, that specializes in a thing (Amari and bitters more generally) that 99% of people have either never heard of (Amari), or with respect to bitters more generally, their only awareness is that it’s “something bitter people put in their drinks for some reason”. I’m sure they get a lot of customers that really have no intellectual curiosity whatsoever and just heard somewhere that they’ve got good cocktails…

i told him I was there to explore, and I told him what I’ve said here, which I’d already figured out: I didn’t like high alcohol or super sweet ones, and I told him several brands I liked. He said in a snotty tone that what I told him was inconsistent so it was of no help to him. He was a total prick. The friend who accompanied me agreed. We were like, WTF?!

[Tom_G_l_a_s_g_o_w]

I don’t know if you caught someone on an off night, but every bartender I’ve encountered on the 5-6 times I’ve been has been friendly and helpful.

Agreed. I think you have to make clear (via your questions) that you’re actually interested/curious and not just there to slam back a few tasty cocktails. Once that’s out of the way, I’ve always found them to be very friendly (and typically you wind up with some free tastes and/or “swag”, such as stickers, buttons, etc. ).

That said, I think the “arrogant hipster” description isn’t necessarily inaccurate, but to some extent it just kind of comes with the territory when you are at an extremely small, niche-y, bar in either the East Village, Lower East Side, or Brooklyn, that specializes in a thing (Amari and bitters more generally) that 99% of people have either never heard of (Amari), or with respect to bitters more generally, their only awareness is that it’s “something bitter people put in their drinks for some reason”. I’m sure they get a lot of customers that really have no intellectual curiosity whatsoever and just heard somewhere that they’ve got good cocktails…

i told him I was there to explore, and I told him what I’ve said here, which I’d already figured out: I didn’t like high alcohol or super sweet ones, and I told him several brands I liked. He said in a snotty tone that what I told him was inconsistent so it was of no help to him. He was a total prick. The friend who accompanied me agreed. We were like, WTF?!

Apparently, you’re not a real New Yorker. Do the counter men in Italian delis give you a bad time?

[Tom_G_l_a_s_g_o_w]

Speaking of challenging,I’m still waiting to open my bottle of Varnelli’s Amaro Sibilla.

[Alan_Rath]

We ship Amaro refrigerated because we ship everything refrigerated, but I doubt that it makes a difference.

This is a more general question I have: are infused liquors not susceptible to heat damage? Like Vermouth, bitters, Amaro? I would think that the compounds being extracted would be damaged by heat, just like flavor compounds in wine.

You know, Alan, my answer was glib and may well be wrong. I was assuming that sugar and alcohol were in some way protective, but I don’t know that. We treat them as if they were wine all along the chain in any case.

Certainly a key point with good vermouth is to leave it in the 'fridge and use it up, it definitely oxidizes otherwise.

I think there is this belief that alcohol, and maybe sugar, are somehow protective against heat and other damage. Maybe that’s true, I’ve had this bottle of Kahlua for like 30 years just sitting in a kitchen cupboard, and I think it’s still OK but in all seriousness, a bottle of fine Port is still susceptible to heat damage, you want to store it just as you would any fine wine.

[Oliver_McCrum]

This is a more general question I have: are infused liquors not susceptible to heat damage? Like Vermouth, bitters, Amaro? I would think that the compounds being extracted would be damaged by heat, just like flavor compounds in wine.

You know, Alan, my answer was glib and may well be wrong. I was assuming that sugar and alcohol were in some way protective, but I don’t know that. We treat them as if they were wine all along the chain in any case.

Certainly a key point with good vermouth is to leave it in the 'fridge and use it up, it definitely oxidizes otherwise.

I think there is this belief that alcohol, and maybe sugar, are somehow protective against heat and other damage. Maybe that’s true, I’ve had this bottle of Kahlua for like 30 years just sitting in a kitchen cupboard, and I think it’s still OK but in all seriousness, a bottle of fine Port is still susceptible to heat damage, you want to store it just as you would any fine wine.

Absolutely. I would go further, I think even true spirits like Single Malts tend to change over time after being opened, particularly if the bottle is mostly empty.

[John_Morris]

i told him I was there to explore, and I told him what I’ve said here, which I’d already figured out: I didn’t like high alcohol or super sweet ones, and I told him several brands I liked. He said in a snotty tone that what I told him was inconsistent so it was of no help to him. He was a total prick. The friend who accompanied me agreed. We were like, WTF?!

Apparently, you’re not a real New Yorker. Do the counter men in Italian delis give you a bad time?

If he’d been a crusty old guy with a thick toidy-toid accent, I would happily have accepted it. But he was a hipster jerk.

[John_Morris]

I think there is this belief that alcohol, and maybe sugar, are somehow protective against heat and other damage. Maybe that’s true, I’ve had this bottle of Kahlua for like 30 years just sitting in a kitchen cupboard, and I think it’s still OK but in all seriousness, a bottle of fine Port is still susceptible to heat damage, you want to store it just as you would any fine wine.

Absolutely. I would go further, I think even true spirits like Single Malts tend to change over time after being opened, particularly if the bottle is mostly empty.

There are two issues here – oxidation or caramelization resulting from oxygen or heat. Loss of aromas shouldn’t be an issue in a sealed bottle in shipment.

Alan - How would you tell if your Kahlua suffered?