Whether you're taking a train from Rome to Naplesor Venice to Monterosso, wherever you end up in Italy you will be exposed to delicious food traditions.The meal is a time to relax, eat at leisure, and to enjoy the company around you. This includes ample time to enjoy yourself after you’ve completed your dinner, chatting with friends and enjoying an Italian digestif or ‘digestivo.’
Simply put, the Italian digestif or digestivo is an alcoholic drink served after dinner to help with digestion. This type of Italian liquor is different than some of the more commonly known classic Italian co*cktails like the Campari Spritz. These are aperitivo, ordrinks meant to stimulate your appetite.
Let’s take a look at the different types of Italian digestif so you know what to request after one of Italy’s famously delicious meals.
Italian digestif: Amaro
Not simply a drink on its own, amaro is a term used for a whole category of drinks. These tend to be bittersweet herbal liqueurs with a longstanding place in Italian culture. Amaro goes back to ancient Rome when the nobles and the wealthy would sip it for its restorative qualities. It is usually made by macerating alcohol with various herbs, roots, flowers, bark, and citrus peels. There are hundreds of variations of Amaro, but they all contain between 16-40% alcohol.
With the recent renaissance in traditional co*cktails, Fernet Branca might sound familiar, but not many outside Italy drink it on its own. Invented in Milan in 1845, it has a quite bitter, medicinal flavor. Fernet Branca also makes a slightly sweeter mintier version called Branca Menta. If you enjoy something with a strong mint flavor you might prefer to go with an order of Branca Menta instead.
Italian digestif: Limoncello
What is more Italian than this lemon liqueur from the Amalfi Coast? It’s perfect in warm weather since it can be drunk ice cold or at room temperature. Made from steeping Sorrento lemon peels in spirits, then mixing with a simple syrup, limoncello is a popular choice across Italy. Often an ingredient in Italian desserts, lemoncello is also a frequent addition to many types of Italian co*cktails. This might include some of its many variants including those flavored with pistachio nuts, cantaloupe, oranges, or strawberries.
Italian digestif: Passito
This sweet dessert wine is made from grapes that have been partially dehydrated to concentrate their flavors. It is a similar process used to make ice wine, but one more suitable to warm climates. If you enjoy a drink that’s rich, sweet, and concentrated, a passito might be the way to go instead of some of the other, more bitter, herbal digestivos.
Italian digestif: Strega
This digestivo is one of the most colorfully named Italian drinks - strega is Italian for ‘witch.’ This yellow liqueur originates from Benevento, Campania, a city in Italy famous for its many legends about witches. The distinctive yellow color comes from saffron, although it contains a whopping 70 ingredients. Usually drunk on its own, strega has a sweet herbal taste with echoes of mint and fennel.
Now you’ll be able to order something to your own taste once you’ve finished your meal in Italy. We hope you enjoy the excellent company. Salute!
A digestif is an alcoholic beverage served after a meal, traditionally believed to aid digestion even though there is not strong evidence to support this. When served after a coffee course, it may be called pousse-café. Digestifs are usually taken neat.
or digestivo is an alcoholic drink served after dinner to help with digestion. This type of Italian liquor is different than some of the more commonly known classic Italian co*cktails like the Campari Spritz. These are aperitivo, or drinks meant to stimulate your appetite.
Digestivi (“digestives,” in English) are often in the class of amari, or Italian bitters. Amari are made by infusing grape brandy with a blend of herbs, flowers, aromatic roots and bark, citrus peels, and spices. The infused brandy is then sweetened with sugar syrup and aged for a few weeks up to a few years.
A popular Italian tradition, it is typically served after dessert and coffee courses at the end of a meal, aiding digestion, settling the stomach and prolonging the sociable ambience of dining.
Simply put, the Italian digestif or digestivo is an alcoholic drink served after dinner to help with digestion. This type of Italian liquor is different than some of the more commonly known classic Italian co*cktails like the Campari Spritz.
What's a Digestivo? If an aperitivo is bitter, red to orange, lightly herbal and relatively low in alcohol, a digestivo is another level up: much darker (often deep brown), much more bitter and flavorful, and usually stronger in terms of alcohol. “Digestivo is mainly considered the amaro category,” Maestrelli says.
Gaspare Campari invented the liqueur in 1860 near Milan. Like most amari, its recipe is a closely held secret, but many drinkers speculate its prominent bitter flavor comes from chinotto oranges. Although it features in countless co*cktails, Campari is rarely sipped neat—perhaps for good reason.
Besides pasta, pizza is perhaps the most popular and recognized Italian food. Pizza is considered a national symbol representing Italy to the rest of the world, so much so that UNESCO has acknowledged pizza as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
In Italy, the perfect end to a perfect meal is a strong black shot of espresso in a demitasse. The strong burst of caffeine certainly helps to combat the drowsy after dinner feeling but, if you like your coffee a little larger, an Americano will also do the trick.
Don't request a slice of pizza. In Italy, unless sold on the street or “al taglio” (sold in rectangular or square slices by weight), it's always round and served on a plate. 2. You cut the pizza yourself and then eat it with a knife and fork, the most common way, or fold each slice and eat it with your hands.
Italians have a thing about drinking cappuccino after noon. It's just not done (some say it's because the milk and foam makes it a replacement for a meal, and all that dairy upsets the digestion). And you'll never see an Italian ordering a cappuccino after dinner.
Digestivi are after-dinner co*cktails that usually consist of a bitter liqueur such as an amaro, limoncello, or grappa. The bitterness of the liquor helps encourage digestion after a big meal.
In Italy, it's very common to have an aperitivo a couple of hours before dinner in the evening. This is a time where friends or family get together for a catchup with a glass of something refreshing and a few nibbles to stimulate their appetite before the main meal.
Grappa is made by distilling the skins, pulp, seeds and stems (i.e., the pomace) left over from winemaking after pressing the grapes. It was originally made to prevent waste by using these leftovers.
You're opening your stomach before dining. A spritz, or something including a bitter alcohol, is traditional and helps with the stomach opening. But today in Italy, an aperitivo menu usually consists of a bit more: Aperol or Campari spritz, a negroni, Peroni or another beer, and a glass or two of red and white wine.
Introduction: My name is Mr. See Jast, I am a open, jolly, gorgeous, courageous, inexpensive, friendly, homely person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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