Winterize Your Amaro
Michael Buonocore's Cy-Caldo
Winterize Your Amaro
With a proper “feels like zero,” today is the coldest day of winter so far here in Brooklyn. That, combined with the popularity of my recent Bracamenta Hot Chocolate dispatch, still has me in the mind of hot drinks. On a recent frigid Friday evening when I was leaving a favorite bar to walk to a nearby pizzeria for dinner, the bartender offered me a Hot Toddy for the road. At first I demurred, but four blocks in while waiting to cross a busy intersection I was grateful for the spirited and warming contents within the to-go coffee cup I was cradling between my gloved hands.
Several years ago I wrote a story for PUNCH on Italy’s take on the toddy called “It’s Amaro Caldo Season.” Here’s an excerpt:
“Think of it like amaro and soda, but with snow tires. Rich with dried herbs and spices, citrus peels, and aromatic botanicals sweetened with sugar or honey, each amaro resembles a custom tea blend, and raising its temperature has a similarly transformative effect. In a winter wonderland of Hot Buttered Rum, toddies, mulled cider and Irish Coffee, the amaro caldo is an austere, two-ingredient, moody stranger, but the diverse spectrum of amaro brands and styles presents countless mix-and-match options and flavor profiles to choose from—though staying in the range of “not too sweet” and “not too bitter” tends to offer the best results.”
In that article I spoke with Dan Zeiders, the Beverage Director at TFB Hospitality in Lititz, Pennsylvania. He turned me on to a version he had perfected using Amaro Sfumato Rabarbaro, an alpine amaro with natural smokiness imparted from rhubarb root and a rich jamminess from wild mountain berries. What took it over the top, though, was stirring a bit of mozzarella whey left over from their house-made mozzarella. To make it easier for those without a whey stash in their fridge, he switched it up for a generous pat of salted Irish butter.
With amari caldi on my mind, it was fortuitous when, while texting with an another industry friend, Michael Buonocore, he brought up the topic as well as the recipe for his favorite amaro caldo, and was kind enough to share it here today with LAST CALL readers.