Create a lively damson amaro: A bittersweet, herbal alpine spirit

The “alpine” style amaro liqueurs sit at the more interesting (and challenging) end of the scale, often medicinal, minty, bitter, herbaceous and perfect for an intense shot after dinner as a digestif. Not all alpine liqueurs would be called amaros, particularly if they’re not from the Italian mountains: there’s the French Génépi for instance, or even Chartreuse. On the Italian side, there’s the mighty Braulio, and a host of lesser known local amaros. What about Fernet-Branca? We can get to fernets in a future post and recipe, as they’re an even more extreme category.

Alpine liqueurs take their strong flavour profile from common local plants across European mountain regions. You’ll regularly come across blue gentian flowers, and conifers, yarrow, juniper all grow locally. The Braulio amaro was created by pharmacist Francesco Peloni in the Italian mountain town of Bormio in 1826, originally using medicinal herbs, fruits, roots and berries from the local Braulio valley. It’s fame spread further as it became a staple après-ski drink in Italy.

Luckily a similar array of mountain herbs and roots, as well as more exotic flavourings, are readily available nowadays even if you’re far from the nearest alpine valley (online or in health food stores). And if you’re reading this recipe and blog, likely you have a damson tree or a bowl of sloe berries you’ve gathered, looking for an interesting new use for them. Combining the damsons with the botanicals, including alpine flavours, makes for a great new spirit to try.

This is now my fourth damson amaro recipe (have a look at the bracing first one, the Amaro Montenegro-style second one, or the more balanced but medicinal third one). I’ve dialled the bitterness back a touch, to be less dominating, and added a wider variety of botanicals reflective of alpine plants. I’d have no hesitation offering this after a meal: it stands its own compared to local amaros, although doesn’t yet achieve the finesse of a famous brand. However, I think a future iteration needs more punchiness: this isn’t as in-your-face as something like a Braulio (although that may be more to some people’s taste!).