Cocktail legend Dale DeGroff has released his second collaboration with absinthe distiller T.A. “Ted” Breaux: DeGroff Bitter Aperitivo and DeGroff New World Amaro.
The two products are made from natural ingredients at Clear Creek Distillery, the company says, and are expected to be available in early May.
“Dale DeGroff is synonymous with cocktails, and no one blends botanicals better than Ted Breaux,” says David Ballew, President and CEO, Hood River Distillers, parent company of Clear Creek Distillery. “The opportunity to partner with this dynamic pair to create DeGroff Aperitivo and Amaro is truly amazing, and we look forward to unlocking the brand’s huge potential.”
DeGroff Bitter Aperitivo works in the classic Negroni or Americano, as a Spritz with soda and Prosecco, or wherever an Italian-style bitter aperitivo is called for, the company says. 50 proof, with a suggested retail price of $29.99 per 700-ml. bottle.
“I had an aperitivo behind my bar in the 90’s, but that was the decade of neon colors and powdered drinks mixes . . . consumers had no interest in such a strong, bold flavor,” says DeGroff. “Now things have clearly changed and consumers want and expect complex, bold flavors in their cocktails.”
DeGroff New World Amaro is a West Indies-inspired Amaro is accented with Caribbean spices. It delivers a rich, bittersweet complexity characteristic of traditional Italian spirits, but features a New World botanical meant to offer bartenders and cocktail enthusiasts versatility in cocktail mixology.
It works on its own as a digestive in the traditional fashion, and can add layers of complexity to craft cocktails and tropical drinks. 70 proof, with a suggested retail price of $39.99 per 700-ml. bottle.
“Our goal was to create unique flavors that would appeal to mixologists — a select blend of botanicals — fruits, roots, flowers and leaves — but absolutely no artificial ingredients or colors” says Breaux. “These are big flavors with rich colors — the way nature intended.”
