Underberg!
"Underberg: After a good meal
“Underberg is an herb bitters taken for digestion, it is not a beverage. Not to be supped, but taken all at once and quickly because of its aromatic and strong taste. It is also used as a flavoring.”
https://www.underberg.com/en/product/underberg/
Fernet Branca for the win for me!!
I’ve never seen the Underberg…wiki says it’s 44% alcohol but you don’t need a liquor license to sell it? Who carries it then?
I buy it by the 3-pack at my local wine shop. It has lots of crazy promotional materials associated with it, too: a toy truck that can carry a dozen tiny bottles, a bandolier, etc.
Tales of the Cocktail: “Underberg: Cultish Digestif Might Actually Work”
Smallflower sells it, as does Amazon.
Grand Marnier 100
SAS in first class
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Incredibly acidic and bitter. I gave it up for a few years. I have a bottle I may open this weekend and try with club soda as an aperitif.
Chinato, a specially of Piemonte, is quite nice, although you don’t seem to be asking for that. You can serve as an aperitif with a little ice and a bit of good club soda along with an orange peel. It’s also good as a digestivo.
Capellano is the standard bearer and Vergano has a nice offering along with an Americano, blanco vermouth and Luli, an addictive moscato based aperitvo/disgestif that is relatively sweet.
The Alessio vino chinato is a good basic version imported by Anchor distilling.
More of a vermouth but Cocchi Dopo Teatro tonight. Very nice and extra bitter. I will try it in a Negroni later.
I’ll be sipping this 1930-40 Fernet Branca thanks to the rec from Max in another thread. I have no idea how they got it here that fast…took 2 days from England!
Does anybody have any thoughts or suggestions on how to approach this? It’s 45% (current Branca is 39%) I don’t imagine it’s needs special handling with that high alcohol?
Damn that’s fast. Out of curiosity how much was shipping?
25 pounds! They must be absorbing some of the cost, I could barely ship ground to CA for that price…
That’s dirt cheap, and fast! It’s almost certainly baked into the cost of those bottles, but still, something I’ve never seen from a UK retailer shipping stateside. I’ll have to browse that site in more detail now
Yes I’ll be going back tonight, they have some awfully tempting Campari I’d like to try. Last time I saw anything this vintage was at a bar in SF but they wanted like $100+ per pour and I settled for something fairly recent I think. While some are costly it’s fairly reasonable really even compared to new bourbon and old Madeira.
I grew up in northern Italy and Amaro was definitely the stuff of old people. Couldn’t understand why people drunk it! Now that I live in the USA and I’m getting a little older, I seek it out every chance I get 
In addition to all the great ones mentioned in this thread, I will recommend two relatively recent discoveries for me, both often available on the US market: Ebo Lebo, a quirky but stunning herbal amaro from Val D’Aosta, and Amara Rossa di Sicilia, Made with Sicilian blood oranges. Mind blowing.
1960’s Chartreuse from Tarragona.
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