Bitter Lemon Highball
An Italian amaro topped with bitter lemon soda over ice. The two-ingredient aperitivo highball — Montenegro or Averna with quinine-and-lemon fizz, and the easiest amaro drink there is.
Built to the standard modern spec; not yet tested in our kitchen. How we test.
The recipe.
Scaling adjusts quantities only. Prepare shaken drinks in individual portions.
Let’s make a good drink.
Fill a highball glass with ice.
Add the amaro.
Top with chilled bitter lemon.
Squeeze a lemon wedge in, drop it in and stir once.
A thoughtful finish
- Montenegro for a floral, orange drink; Averna for a darker, richer one.
- Bitter lemon, not lemonade; the quinine is the point.
- A splash of soda alongside the bitter lemon makes it drier.
Common mistakes
- Sweet lemonade.
- Flat soda.
- Fernet, which is too bitter for this build.
A few good questions.
What does an amaro and bitter lemon taste like?
Herbal, bitter-sweet amaro lifted by lemon and quinine fizz — like a gin and tonic built on liqueur.
Which amaro?
Montenegro or Nonino for a lighter drink; Averna, Ramazzotti or Cynar for a darker one.
How strong is it?
About 9% — low, since amari are 16% to 30% and the soda is two-thirds of the glass.
What is bitter lemon?
A quinine-and-lemon soda — Schweppes's 1957 drink, now also made by Fever-Tree.
Variations
- Campari Soda — Campari and soda.
- Vermouth Spritz — Sweet vermouth and soda.
- Gin and Tonic — Gin and tonic.
- Amaro Sour — Amaro, lemon, sugar and egg white.
Where it comes from
c. 1960s · Italy
Bitter lemon — Schweppes’s quinine-and-lemon soda of 1957 — reached Italy in the 1960s and found its match in the country’s amari: a measure of Montenegro, Averna, Ramazzotti or Cynar over ice, topped with bitter lemon, is a bar and beach standard from Sicily to the lakes, the soda’s lemon and quinine bitterness meeting the amaro’s herbs and sugar. It is the Italian cousin of the gin and tonic and the ancestor of the amaro-and-soda highballs on American menus since the 2010s; Difford’s lists it under several amari. A lighter amaro (Montenegro, Nonino) makes a floral, orange drink; a darker one (Averna, Ramazzotti) a richer, cola-like one. A lemon wedge, squeezed in.
Sources
- Difford's Guide, Amaro and Bitter Lemon, 2014 (reference)
- Brad Thomas Parsons, Amaro, 2016 (book)
- Punch, Amaro Highballs, 2017 (reference)
Strength. About 0.97 US standard drinks at an estimated 8.4% ABV, estimated from the ingredients and technique, not measured. What that means.
A little character in every sip.
A keeper?
Save this drink for your next cocktail hour.
Saved in this browser.The next great drink
might already be on your shelf.
Choose your bottles and mixers. Discover what you can make.
Your next sip.
More Amaro & Bitter Liqueur drinks ↗
Americano
Campari, sweet vermouth and soda. The aperitivo that taught Italy to drink before dinner, and the first drink James Bond ever ordered.
Aperol Negroni
Gin, Aperol and sweet vermouth in equal parts. The Negroni with the bitterness turned down — orange, sweet and bright, and the…
Aperol Sour
Aperol, lemon and egg white, shaken to a silky orange foam. Bitter-sweet, low in alcohol, and the best thing to do with…