Spirits & Liqueurs

A spirit is any liquor that contains no added sugar and has at least 20% alcohol by volume. Liquors bottled with added sugar and added flavorings are known instead as liqueurs. According to some sources, distillation useful for producing beverages was discovered in the 8th century, and it was perfected in Italy only in the 10th century when the production of alcoholic beverages from infusion and maceration in distilled spirit was used by monks for medicinal use. We list here the best of the Italian tradition in the production of spirits and liqueurs, with a particular focus on the Italian Amaro - an herbal liqueur consumed as either an aperitif or an after-dinner digestif, usually with a bitter-sweet flavuor and a variable alcohol content.