Radicchioblog

While many Americans drink a lot of wine, beer and hard alcohol, Italians seem to drink a bit less. Wine is generally consumed with a meal, not just for its own sake and hard liquor is usually consumed after dinner not as a before dinner cocktail as you find in many American homes and restaurants.

However, it would be wrong to think there weren’t a number of Italian brandies, after-dinner drinks or digestifs, and liquors. Many of these products are available in the U.S. market.

Amaro, is well known in the United States where brands such as Averna and Ramazzotti have made a real name for themselves. Fernet Branca is also quite popular in the U.S. among chefs particularly. Cynar, a bitter from the Compari Group, has been available for many years.

Stravecchio, an Italian brandy which has also been around forever, hasn’t really caught on but you never can tell what will be the next craze. The same Fratelli Branca Distillerie which makes Fernet Branca also makes perhaps the most famous Stravecchio brandy. Traditionally, Italian brandy is made using a continuous still and is aged for around six years.

Limoncello has been around for years and even Danny Devito, the actor, makes one. An funny video of his limoncello can be seen on YouTube. There is also an entire website is dedicated to making the perfect limoncello.

Despite the popularity of some of these brands, Italian after-dinner drinks are still not that well known in the United States. Some brands such as Amaro Braulio from the Northern city of Bormio have made no headway at all.

Grappa, on the other hand, is making its way into American hearts. Nonino, one of the largest and most well known Grappa makers, continues to update brands and bring in new flavors all the time.

Most Italians use these products truly to help them digest their food whereas when the products come to America, they often become merely another source of alcohol and sometimes are used creatively to make new drinks.

Clearly, this will never be a huge part of the spirits and liquors market but like the little engine that could, this niche market will keep plugging along and growing in the long term.