Cynar – All It’s Choked Up To Be

I’m watching the Masters, so a dad joke in the title felt seasonal. Get it? Cynar, artichokes, choke, chalk…

Anyways, as I mentioned, Spring is all about growing things, but not much is actually ready to eat yet. Artichokes are an exception; these thistles are best in April, and right around now you’ll see them literally everywhere in Italy where carciofi feature prominently in tons of pizza and pasta for the season.

But, you’ll also see bright green artichokes in every liquor store in Italy (and Argentina and Brazil) as well. They’re on a bright red background and mostly hidden behind bold white Word Art letters, but they’re there. Big bottles of a 33 proof amaro featuring artichokes called Cynar is everywhere all year.

History of Cynar

Unlike most other popular Italian liqueurs or vermouths, Cynar is an invention of the 20th century. It’s the same idea as every other amaro: take neutral spirit, steep a ton of herbs and spices in it, water it down, and sell it as a digestif. This differs from vermouth in that the base is high-proof grain alcohol, not wine. The unique slant for this drink, compared to something like Fernet, is that artichokes were included in the steeped ingredients.

This particular amaro got popular after its introduction in 1952 on what was essentially series of primetime informercials in Italy that featured A-list actors. For Cynar, a famous actor sat in the middle of a busy Italian street and convinced passersby to stop their routine and sit down with him for a drink. This worked well in Italy, but the drink struggled to break out of its home market. After years of general stagnation outside of South America (where they love amari more than anything) the already-giant Campari Group bought the brand (but did nothing to the recipe) in 1996.

Many years later, once Americans stopped only ordering sugary-sweet cocktails and started appreciating bitter drinks like a negroni, top-end cocktail bars like Chicago’s Violet Hour started experimenting with other bitter Italian digestifs. Fernet Branca probably benefited most from this, being adopted as the industry shot-of-choice in tons of American cities, but Cynar started popping up as well. It’s nowhere near as ubiquitous as the much-brighter Campari and Aperol, but if you see it behind the bar or featured heavily on a cocktail menu, you should be confident the bar knows what it’s doing.

Tasting Cynar

If you buy the bottle looking to drink boozy artichokes, I’ve got bad news for you. I don’t eat enough artichokes to know all the intricacies of the flavor and pick them up elsewhere, but I can tell you definitively that Cynar does not at all taste like an artichoke.

To me, Cynar is about halfway between a good sweet vermouth and Campari. There’s a good amount of sugar in Cynar, well over what’s in Campari, but it’s almost as bitter so you wouldn’t ever call it truly sweet. Where Campari is aggressive, Cynar is cloying.

The same Italian herb profiles you find in a good vermouth, like basil and oregano, come through clearly here as well. But then it finishes so dry that you have to ask yourself if those flavors were actually there at the start of your sip.

It’s also about half the proof of Campari at 16.5% ABV, so it doesn’t pack much alcohol heat at all. You get a light punch from the bitterness, but that’s it. This also means that you should keep Cynar in the fridge after you open it! It’s based on neutral spirit, not wine, so it won’t oxidize as quickly as vermouth will, but it will certainly change profile over time. Treat it like a good vermouth for best results.

Key Drinks to Make

If you just want to get right into it, you can replace Campari with Cynar in just about any drink to good results. A negroni with Cynar instead of Campari will be a little sweeter and slightly deeper in herb profile and works really well with a very clean gin (like Bombay Sapphire or similar).

However, if you want to explore Cynar’s unique properties, here are some other ideas.

Cynar & Tonic

I love a Gin & Tonic, but it’s squarely a summer drink (or at least a hot weather drink) in my mind. But while the G&T is ever-popular in Spain, the rest of Western Europe tends to mix tonic with liqueurs instead for their favorite highballs. I think Cynar works exceptionally well here because the herb profile is reminiscent of quite a few good gins, certainly more so than other amari. It ends up being an extremely-low ABV drink that’s perfect for a weeknight and pairs very well with aromatic foods.

For proportions, I go 3-to-1 here. If you’re using a bottle of Fever Tree tonic (you should be), that’s using about 2.25oz of Cynar for the bottle. If you want to add any citrus for something a little fresher, my bet would be on a grapefruit garnish. But, it doesn’t need it.

Bitter Giuseppe

This is an interesting take on an Americano that’s a bit deeper and fruitier at the same time (which I love) from the aforementioned Violet Hour. The vermouth pumps up the fruit inherent in the Cynar, and the orange bitters add a citrus kick as well. The herbs take a bit of a backseat until the drink finishes with a bitter, herbaceous punch that makes you want to take another sip right away.

Presbyterian’s Revenge

A punched-up riff on a classic, this version gets rid of the carbonated mixers altogether and goes to get its herbs and spice from Cynar instead. The lemon juice, syrup, and orange bitters all bring a good balance to what would otherwise be a bit overwhelming, but the Scotch and Cynar are still undoubtedly the stars here. The flavors from both come through clearly, but they’re mellowed-out so you can enjoy them from start to finish without getting any kind of real punch. It’s an excellent light whiskey drink.

I actually think this might be even better with a mellow single malt, but I had to use some blended Scotch because otherwise I’ll never get through the bottle of White Walker I bought for tomorrow’s premier (which is very meh but the packaging is the best in the world).

Other Things to Do with Cynar

Pour it over ice and drink it neat before or after dinner! Feel very Italian as you do this. I haven’t tried this yet, but I’ve always had a sneaking suspicion that this could really punch up some red sauces that usually call for red wine as well. I’ll report back on the results there.