•••• The Mad Scientist Sommelier ••••

I've started running a bit low on my homemade Black Cherry Amaro, and with the recent loss of a gall bladder, I find the potent herbal qualities of the Gentian and Wormwood REALLY help my stomach. I still have quite a bit of my Blueberry Mirto (Gentian and Rosemary) but I find the effects of the more traditional style a better curative. Amazingly so. And that IS what they used it for originally.

Well, that and arthritis, depression, whooping cough, parasites, syphilis, and the plague. 

I also find it quite useful for Manhattans, although those weren't invented until the late 19th Century. 

I based the original batch on a 14th-century Italian monk's recipe, which I dug out of a scanned latin tome on Google Books, doing my best to translate as I went. I ran up to Total Wine & More for a bottle of grain alcohol (although last time I used Kirschwasser, TW&M didn't carry my brand) to start another proper batch.

And because a proper batch of amaro takes at LEAST 3 months to produce, I bought a bottle of a classic, Ramazzotti, to hold me over until then.

http://www.ramazzotti.it/en/