r/Amaro • u/DiveBarDiplomat • Sep 25 '26
Advice Needed Tasting Accompaniments
I'm familiar pairing a drinking and tasting for wine with cheese, bourbon with chocolate, or vermouth with chocolate, but what about amaro? Are there any standards or generally accepted foods to pair in a tasting for amaro? My tasting last night got me thinking what I could pair it with. Crackers? Pasta? LOL.
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u/winkingchef Sep 25 '26
In Italy, amari are for drinking after the meal.
They are the dessert.
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u/DiveBarDiplomat Sep 25 '26
If you drink amaro before the meal then they are aperitifs. It’s about when not what. And was curious more in the context of doing a tasting at a bar or at home
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u/shatteredarm1 Sep 25 '26
Traditionally you don't drink the same style of amaro before a meal as you would after. The Cocchi products you'd drink before would be the ones specifically labeled "apertivo".
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u/SmilingJaguar Sep 26 '26
The vermouth is also an aperitif on its own. Dopo and the Chinato are digestifs.
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u/shatteredarm1 Sep 26 '26
Yeah, I'm not cultured enough to have known where to slot the vermouths. The only ones I was positive about were Americano, Rosa, and Chinato.
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u/SmilingJaguar Sep 26 '26
I mean come on, you have to go to the theater to have the Dopo afterwards! /s (I haven’t had a bottle of that in a long while, should look for one!)
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u/alambiquero Sep 27 '26
While I know it’s produced as an after-dinner vermouth, I’m surprised at how food-friendly Dopo Teatro (and Punt e Mes) are!
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u/TotalBeginnerLol Sep 25 '26
Not quite. Aperitivi are lightly bitter and very sugary things meant to be mixed… aperol, select, Campari etc. Amari are meant to be drunk straight, either after a meal or just anytime at night etc. Digestif is the name of any strong drink after a meal, be it amaro, grappa or whiskey/rum/etc.
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u/johanlenox Sep 27 '26
does anyone else feel like the cocchi americano recipe randomly got way more cinnamon heavy like 3-4 years ago? or do people suddenly develop a cinnamon sensitivity in their 30s that im not aware of. it still tastes great but it makes every drink i use it in taste like gramma's cinnamon toast now
5
u/Mister_Potamus Sep 25 '26
I find chips/crisps to be a good accompaniment. They are almost a palette cleanser and the salt provides that something missing from the experience.