Some Bitter Love — Amaro Amore

As Valentine’s Day is approaching, I had to post about a somewhat contrarian cocktail. Amaro amore literally means “bitter love” in Italian. Most versions of this cocktail have gin as the base spirit.  I’m not partial to most gins, so I adapted the Amaro Amore from something I saw on a Toronto bar’s menu:

The Amaro Amore

1.5 ounces Averna
.75 ounces Campari
Juice from 1/4 lemon
.75 ounces super simple syrup
1 egg white

Combine in a shaker without ice (this is dry shaking), shake with passion, add ice, shake again (this is wet shaking), then strain into a chilled glass.

True to its name, the only spirits in this cocktail are amari (bitters).  Averna is very good on its own.  Don’t drink Campari on its own unless you’re a masochist.  All of the seemingly disparate flavors combine nicely.  That’s a fancy way of saying there’s a lot going on in the Amaro Amore. It is an excellent after dinner drink (trust me on this).

So why the dry shake then the wet shake?  I’m not a scientist so you’re not going to get some technical answer or explanation from me.  You do the double shake because of the egg white.  If you dry shake a cocktail that contains egg white before wet shaking it, you get something even frothier than you would with just a regular wet shake.  If the preceding sentence sounds vaguely dirty to you …… then great minds think alike.