Publication
Trend Drinks
German bartender Arnd Heißen's book of 37 drinks built on herbs, spices, tea and perfume, with a chapter of alcohol-free drinks and the recipes for the infusions, syrups and bitter behind them.
Physical Book
The Big Book of Amaro by Matteo Zed
Bartender Matteo Zed's guide to Italian amaro: what it is, how it is made, where it came from, fifty botanicals, how to drink it, 294 Italian labels region by region, amari from Europe and the world, and cocktail and kitchen recipes.
- PublisherGiunti Editore
- Pages257
About this publication
The book
The Big Book of Amaro, first published in Italian as Il Grande Libro dell’Amaro Italiano by Giunti Editore and translated into English in 2020, opens with a preface and introduction and then runs through What’s an Amaro? (extraction methods, classifications and the neighbouring families), The Origins of Amaro, fifty Botanicals, How to Drink an Amaro, and the Labels chapter that walks through every Italian region from the Aosta Valley to Sardinia and then Europe and the wider world. A Recipes chapter gives amaro cocktails and cooking, and the book ends with acknowledgments, resources and indexes.
Why this stands outIt is the most complete single reference on Italian amaro we have: it names producers, towns, strengths and botanicals for nearly three hundred bottles and describes fifty botanicals one by one. The guide draws on it for its amaro categories, the botanical ingredient pages, the products and the articles; the recipes stay drafts until the author or publisher has said yes.
Details
The specifics
Content typeBitters and Tinctures, Botanicals and Herbs, Regional Traditions, Spirits Guide
Reading Highlights
Worth your time
What's an amaro? Extraction methods and classifications
Pages 1–14
The origins of amaro
Pages 15–31
Fifty botanicals
Pages 33–68
How to drink an amaro
Pages 71–75
Labels: Italian amaro region by region
Pages 77–182
Amari from Europe and around the world
Pages 183–193
Recipes: mixology and cooking
Pages 199–241