Depending on region and personal preference, you might order a vermouth on the rocks in Barcelona before lunch or amaro neat in Sicily after dessert. Aperitifs and digestifs — alcoholic drinks traditionally served before and after a meal — are rituals inextricably woven into the social fabric of many countries.
But you could also enjoy a pre- or post-dinner tipple in Brooklyn, perhaps even from a bottle made in the borough.
Many aperitifs and digestifs are bitters flavored with old-world herbs and roots, and boast centuries-old origins in medicine and monasteries. But a new and growing class of producers hopes to make your Americano truly American.
The bartender and author Sother Teague, an owner of the bitters-centric cocktail bar Amor y Amargo in New York City, said the American palate has “one thousand, thousand percent” grown more bitter since the bar opened in 2011.
Accordingly, the number of domestic bitters stocked on Mr. Teague’s shelves has sextupled. “We went from one or two outlying makers in America, to, now, more than I can count,” he said. “More than I know.”
