Felix Bigallet China China Amaro

The Bigallet distillery has been crafting Alpine spirits in Virieu-sur-Bourbe at the foot of the Rhône Alps since 1872, and China China Amer is their signature creation, unchanged since 1875. The name comes from the French word for cinchona ("quina quina"), the bitter bark at the heart of the recipe. Sweet and bitter orange peels are macerated and triple-distilled in small copper alembic stills, then blended with gentian, cinchona, clove, anise, and a handful of other alpine botanicals, and finished with caramel for the characteristic deep amber glow. Bittersweet and intensely orange-forward, with licorice, cardamom, and warm spice on a very long finish — a bartender's essential in a Negroni or as a bitters substitute in an Old Fashioned.

Cocktail Suggestions: Neat over ice as a digestif; classic Negroni modifier (sub for Campari); replace bitters in an Old Fashioned; combine with rye and lemon for a French twist on a sour; mix with tonic and orange peel