The old-school Italian liqueur is cool again, gaining attention from diners, bartenders and Michelin inspectors alike.
When Bex Figueiredo was called on stage at the Michelin Guide award ceremony in Toronto this past September, they were completely in shock.
In a ballroom packed to the gills with media, their restaurant peers and the who’s who of the industry, Figueiredo, the bar manager for Toronto’s Bar Raval, found themselves ushered on stage to win the Exceptional Cocktails Award. “It was the first award of the night, I didn’t even have time to sit down and think about what was going to happen,” Figueiredo says. “It was so surreal.”
Most honourees aren’t given the opportunity to give a speech — they are given a jacket, a star statue and shuffled along to wait for a group photo. But host Pay Chen turned to Figueiredo and kicked off the night by asking them what the hottest trend in cocktails is right now. Figueiredo just gave their most natural answer. “I’m seeing amaros around a lot right now, which is great because I love them.”
It was a crowning achievement for Figueiredo — and for amaro, which has just recently come back en vogue with bartenders and cocktail enthusiasts alike. Previously best known as the drink of Italian grandfathers, the love for amaro has now become deeper and more complex, much like the liqueur itself. It’s been catapulted back into the spotlight thanks to a more knowledgeable cocktail consumer, an element of mystery in its flavour profile, and its frequently low ABV, at a time when many are looking to curb their consumption.
The bittersweet digestif is believed to have originated in Italian monasteries and pharmacies in the 19th century. Exactly what constitutes an amaro is more difficult to nail down. There are hundreds of different varieties from large brands such as Quintessentia’s Amaro Nonino to smaller, artisanal options such as Nepèta. It ranges from Montenegro to the intensely bitter fernet, vermouth with bittering agents and even the beloved Aperol.
Traditionally, amaro is made with grape brandy, but many distillers use neutral spirits (or even wine) as the base. It can be aged for months or years in barrels or bottles. And the other elements can range from as simple as lemon and elderflower to as complex as angelica, lemon balm, saffron or wormwood.
An amaro can almost be anything. The only “rules” are that it needs to be a bitter liqueur, made by mixing a base spirit with macerated herbs, citrus peels, flowers or aromatic barks and spices, then sweetening the mixture with a sugar syrup.
Bar Mini’s Ethan Mann, top left, curates an ever changing collection of amaros and cocktails, from the smoky Percussive Maintenance to curated tasting flights that explore the spirit’s herbal complexity. Photos by Lucas Minardi.
Mystery solved
“There’s a mysteriousness to every bottle,” says Ethan Mann, the bar manager at east end Toronto spot Bar Mini. “Even when I’m ordering directly from the distributors, I only get sent tasting notes and main ingredients, but there’s so much more that goes into each bottle.”
Mann has leaned into the unknown by always including an amaro-based cocktail on the ever-changing seasonal menu. The mainstay is the Percussive Maintenance, a mixture of gin, mezcal and Vecchia Amaro Del Capo. “It’s served up martini style, with a smoky, herbal, almost menthol flavour from the amaro,” Mann says.
There are also 50/50 shots: half amaro, half something else. It got started with the Blackbird — half Jameson, half Montenegro — commonly known as a “bartenders’ handshake,” what one bartender will serve to another. The idea grew into a whole blackboard menu on the red brick wall. The most popular are the Ferrari (fernet and Campari), M&M (mezcal and Montenegro) and the mystery shot (bartender’s choice).
Then there are flights, which originally took off when patrons would sit at the bar, see the collection along the back wall, and ask to try a few. Now, Bar Mini offers a curated selection of three or lets enthusiastic imbibers pick their own. Mann’s recommendation is to try three from the small-batch Nepèta range, especially Alpino, La Miscella and Alpino Reserva. If you’re looking for the best of the best, try Dell’erborista.
“Amaro has a flavour you can’t get from any other liquor or liqueur,” Mann says. “It has a depth from the barrel aging and darker herbs.”
New and next
Cocktails come in waves. In the late 2000s, the Paper Plane (whisky, Aperol, amaro nonino and lemon juice) dominated much of Ontario — especially Toronto; there was the Don Draper-inspired Manhattan fixation; the Aperol Spritz boom. But Toronto’s cocktail scene is evolving, according to Patrick Groves, the owner of Contrada in Toronto’s Little Italy.
Groves has been interested in the liqueur since he worked at the Michelin-recognized Italian restaurant Giulietta and tried every one stocked to build a sense memory. When he was first learning, the only people who were interested in amaro were those who sipped it at the end of the night or didn’t realize that it was a staple of their favourite cocktail. Lately, he’s been getting interest from all different people who stop by and ask for it to be specifically included in what they’re drinking.
Groves says it’s all about broadening and maturing your palette. “The original spirit acts as a baseline to layer in sophistication, just like when you cook savoury food, you need to add herbs for complexity.”
Contrada stocks two dozen amaros at any given time to be enjoyed as an aperitif over ice before a meal, a digestif at the end of the night or in a cocktail. The Cereal Monogamist, a take on the piña colada, for example, includes Spirit of York vodka, bianco vermouth, corn, passionfruit coconut, vanilla, lime and a Sicilian lemon amaro by Nepèta. “It’s a modern craft style of amaro, part of a new wave that’s very concentrated,” Groves says. “It adds an herbal complexity that makes the drink a little more sophisticated.”
It’s hard to order something from Contrada’s cocktail menu and not get a taste of amaro. There’s Campari in La Colomba, Cappelletti in the Due Lupi and Branca Menta in the Amico Verde. To celebrate the holiday season, Groves is including an Italian Christmas classic on his menu: a Bicerin, a Torino-style mocha made with an herbaceous Amaro Meletti.
“People want to challenge their palate,” Groves says. “More people have an appreciation for food and beverage now. They’re adventurous and ready to re-evaluate what it means for something to taste good.”
Patrick Groves, owner of Contrada in Toronto’s Little Italy, celebrates amaro’s new wave with inventive cocktails. Like the Cereal Monogamist, a take on the piña colada, for example, includes Spirit of York vodka, bianco vermouth, corn, passionfruit coconut, vanilla, lime and a Sicilian lemon amaro by Nepèta. Photos by Pat Ozols.
Lower the bar
Another appeal of amaro is its often lower alcohol content than other spirits. Ranging anywhere from 15 to 40 per cent, most options fall around 20 per cent — half that of vodka but a step up from wine.
Canadians, as a whole, are drinking a lot less. According to Statistics Canada, more than half of Canadians aged 18 and older reported not having had a drink for at least a week in 2023. Another 15 per cent said they’d had one to two. And that number isn’t static; nearly half of Canadians (41 per cent) say they reduced their alcohol consumption between 2024 and 2025, according to Restaurants Canada.
Bars and restaurants, such as Spanish spot Bar Raval, have had to adapt with a “non-alc” menu and lower-ABV options. “More people have the goal of enjoying a drink, not just getting drunk,” says the recently Michelin-vaunted Figueiredo.
After a trip to Sicily, Figueiredo fell in love with amaro and started putting it in almost everything, despite working at a Spanish-style bar. On the more spirited side of the cocktail menu, Thru the Grapevine has masala gin, green grape soju, green grape and kiwi cordial and a radicchio amaro. Versatile amaro actually has non-alcoholic versions, too. At Bar Raval, the Kalimotxo includes non-alcoholic red wine, amaro zero, Raval’s own white cola and Codorniu zero cava; the Italian Bitter Spritz features an Italian bitter zero-alcohol liqueur by Quebec-based brand NOA.
Going off-menu, Bar Raval is known for tailoring drinks to guests on the spot. “Ninety per cent of the freestyle cocktails I make these days have amaro in them,” Figueiredo says. “I rely on it to add flavour and depth.”
Michelin keeps the identity of its inspectors under incredibly tight lock and key, but with that percentage, it’s highly likely that whoever came into Bar Raval tried one of Figueiredo’s amaro creations before awarding them the cocktail honour. The inspector would find themselves in good company, as more people are open to the bitter flavours, and the momentum grows.
“Amaros are a whole other world,” Figueiredo says. “The flavour profiles are so vast and versatile — there are so many ingredients in each that we don’t even know are in there.”
Bar Raval
505 College St., Toronto
thisisbarraval.com | 647.344.8001 | @bar_raval
Bar Mini
1118 Queen St., E., Toronto
barmini.ca | @bar_mini
Contrada
537 College St., Toronto
contradarestaurant.com | 416.519.3455 | @contrada.to
North American-made amaros are a newer concept, but a few brave Ontario distilleries are breaking new ground and giving it a shot. Here are four to try now:
Dillon’s Black Walnut Amaro
Macerated fresh black walnuts from Niagara, Dillon’s grape spirit, dried apricots, steeped together for 26 months.
Cichcchetto’s Amaro York
A mixture of alpine, Mediterranean and local Ontario botanicals, including citrus peel, cinnamon, peppermint and even organic Canadian maple syrup.
Limited Distillery’s Amaro
100 per cent Niagara-on-the-Lake cherry juice fermented and distilled.
Wild Lot’s Small Batch Bittersweet Italiano
Local Prince Edward County maple syrup is combined with 25 secret botanicals that evoke the flavours of root beer, vanilla, liquorice, cherry, citrus, baking spices and bitter roots and barks.
