Eight Amaro Sazerac
- ¼ oz Averna
- ¼ oz Amaro Montenegro
- ¼ oz Amaro Ramazzotti
- ¼ oz Aperol
- ¼ oz Campari
- ¼ oz Cynar
- ¼ oz Fernet Branca
- ¼ oz Vecchio Amaro Del Capo
- 4 dsh Peychaud's Bitters
- 1 dsh Orange Citrate Bitters
- 1 bsp Green Chartreuse rinse
- Stir with ice for 20-30 seconds
- Rinse a chilled Old Fashioned glass with Green Chartreuse and discard the excess.
- Strain into the rinsed glass (up or over a small rock, your choice).
- Garnish with a large lemon twist.
Happy Friday, friends!
This week’s cocktail is one I’ve been quietly saving for the right moment.
If you’ve been reading along, you already know I have a deep, almost devotional fondness for amari–those 19th- and 20th‑century, heavily herbal Italian digestifs (with an ever‑growing North American branch on the family tree). They were rediscovered and re‑celebrated during the modern cocktail renaissance of the ’90s and 2000s as bittering agents that could bring complexity, texture, and balance to drinks.
They’re wonderful on their own. They’re downright magical in cocktails.
And this week, we have something worth celebrating in amaro scale–so may I present the Eight Amaro Sazerac.
This is another amaro‑forward creation from the team at Amor y Amargo in New York City. Different write‑ups list slightly different lineups of the eight amaros, so it’s best thought of as a collector’s box rather than a strict formula: eight small measures of amaro working together as one.
Recently, with the arrival of Amaro Ramazzotti in my Canadian bar–called out in J.E. Clapham’s That’s Amaro Cocktail Book–I finally had the full set. I’ve been waiting for this one.
I’m such an amaro nerd that I’ve already written about seven of the eight bottles in this build here on Flavor Notes, so I’ll spare you a re‑hash and focus on the newcomer.
Amaro Ramazzotti was created by Ausano Ramazzotti in Milan in 1815, notable as the first commercial Italian bitter made without a wine base. It’s built on a secret recipe of 33 herbs, spices, flowers, and roots, and remains a globally popular digestif two centuries later. In the glass, it’s deep amber and mahogany, with a nose of sweet citrus, dark chocolate, black licorice, and warm spice. On the palate you’ll find orange peel, vanilla, rhubarb, and earthy roots, all flowing into a long, gently bitter finish.
Structurally, this drink wears its inspiration proudly. Like its namesake Sazerac, it leans hard on Peychaud’s–here four generous dashes–plus a single dash of orange bitters for brightness. It also keeps the signature rinse, though it swaps absinthe for Green Chartreuse, which adds its own alpine, herbal halo.
Put it all together and the Eight Amaro Sazerac becomes a cornucopia of bitterness and botanicals.
The large lemon twist invites you in first, with bright citrus oils riding over a darker, herbal undercurrent. The first sip lands as a familiar amaro cola note–the shared DNA of this whole lineup–then quickly starts fracturing in delightful ways: the minty snap of Fernet, the orange of Campari and Aperol, the gentle caramel from Averna and Montenegro, the vegetal Cynar, the coastal chill of Del Capo, and Ramazzotti’s chocolate‑licorice warmth.
As the sip moves across the mid‑palate, those divergences quietly recombine into something archetypal. The best parts of each bottle blur into a kind of platonic amaro–the “amaro of amaros” you didn’t know you needed–where individual brands fall away and what’s left is a single, layered identity.
Underneath, Peychaud’s subtle anise and the Green Chartreuse rinse hum along like a bassline, guiding you toward a long, contemplative finish. You do feel the relative lack of a traditional “base spirit” in terms of proof, but injecting one now would feel like crashing a party that’s already complete.
Sipping an Eight Amaro Sazerac at the end of this week feels exactly right–not just because it’s a great drink, but because it celebrates the category itself. And that’s the scale of celebration the week seems to demand.
And while you’re sipping on this Eight Amaro Sazerac, are you sitting down?
Because you probably should be.
Some weeks, writing this blog is a bit of a creative wrestle. Other weeks, the story just walks in, sits at the bar, and orders a drink.
This was very much the latter.
You’ve heard me talk here about our daughter’s path into aerial arts–first in Portland, then in Vancouver with CircusWest. She’s thrown herself into training, performance, costume design, the whole world. One of the extra gifts CircusWest offered was support in applying and auditioning for longer multi‑year circus programs in Canada and abroad.
And you know our daughter: Ms. World Traveller is not the type to aim small.
This week, she received her acceptance letter to FLIC Circus School in Torino, Italy.
I’m still getting my head around the specifics, but it’s likely a 2‑ to 3‑year commitment.
My wife and I are over the moon for her. This is exactly the kind of challenge and growth she’s been craving, and she’s already thrown herself into Italian language prep. There’s something deeply moving about watching your kid not just talk about big dreams, but actually carry them across an ocean and hang them from a rigging point.
Needless to say, as she keeps flying to literal and metaphorical new heights, we’re very excited about a future trip to Turin in our own not‑so‑distant future.
While her education journey takes off, my immigration journey has been quietly clicking forward as well.
You’ve been with me through the milestones: Canadian Work Permit granted, then the BC driver’s license, then MSP (provincial health) enrollment, and now an application for a Social Insurance Number–the Canadian cousin of the U.S. Social Security number.
All that remains is Permanent Residency.
But while I wait on that final stamp…
I’ve started my next great job opportunity here in Canada, joining Iron Mountain–a U.S.-based global organization celebrating its 75th year–in a role that sits exactly at the intersection of my skills: insight‑driven strategic change and building a center of excellence so those practices last well beyond any one person.
I went into the process hopeful; I came out genuinely impressed. The folks I interviewed with were serious about using insights to deliver real customer value. The teammates I’ve met so far have reinforced that first impression. For me, people and purpose are non‑negotiables; both boxes are very much ticked.
Even though my PR is still pending, starting this role made something click inside me: it finally feels like I’ve stuck the landing here in Canada.
And that’s what this week feels like in total:
- Young people launching themselves toward the horizon, chasing the work fully with their hearts and minds.
- A mid‑career professional finding a place where experience still matters and there’s room to build something lasting.
- A family learning how to be rooted and in motion at the same time.
The Eight Amaro Sazerac is a celebration of parts becoming something larger together. It’s also a perfect toast to this moment: our daughter’s courage, my new role, and the broader arc of this immigration chapter.
And with a “logistics support” trip to Turin in our future, there’s a real chance I’ll get to introduce myself–and Flavor Notes–to some notable Piedmontese amaros:
Watch this space.
Cheers! 🥃🎪🏔️
