Fall Amaro Recipe

Recipe: Danny Childs, Slowdrinks

Photo: Katie Childs

September 22, 2021

A DIY taste of fall.

Using carciofo as the inspiration for this seasonal amaro recipe, Danny Childs, a bartender at The Farm and the Fisherman and the creator of @slowdrinks, uses ingredients grown or foraged in his own garden. Use the recipe as more of a guide instead of a firm directive, he says, as “the quantities of each are rough estimates and may even change each year depending on the ingredients and the seasons. For me, making amaro is as much about the journey as the destination.”

Ingredients

1 cardoon or artichoke leaf
3 small crab apples (or other variety), halved
3 fig leaves
½ cup dried hardy orange (Citrus trifolata) peels or dried common orange peels
1 cup cranberries
1 bunch sage
2 rosemary sprigs
2 tablespoons dried store-bought juniper berries (store-bought only, some wild varieties are not edible)
2 Tbsp. roasted pumpkin seeds
2 heads of staghorn sumac flowers, or 1 tablespoon ground store-bought sumac
maple syrup (sweeten to taste)
water (dilute to taste)
Laird’s 100 proof “Jersey Lightning” apple brandy

Preparation

Pack a 2-quart jar with ingredients and cover with the apple brandy. Allow the botanicals to macerate in the alcohol for 8 weeks.

After 8 weeks, strain out the solids and reserve the liquid amaro. The amaro can be diluted and sweetened as is, or added to a barrel to age longer.

Note: It is important when foraging to always be certain you are harvesting the desired plant and not something that could harm you or anyone else. If unsure, consult a guidebook or an experienced forager in your area.