Just as a checkered flag signals the end of a slipstream , the appearance of a digestif ( ordigestivo , as they ’re known in Italy ) at the table is an indication the meal — and the evening — is coming to close . But beyond the symbolism of a flag , a digestif serves an important design : The post - meal drink is meant to help digestion , as its name implies , and alleviate the uncomfortableness of an lenient meal .
A motley assortment of everything from interface and amari to Cognac and thwart , the digestif class is about as diverse as it catch . Post - dinner drink vary not only from country to nation but from menage to family . Some prefer a stiff pour of John Barleycorn , some a pick liqueur , still others a stab of chilly limoncello .
While some digestifs may be similar in style and aroma toaperitifs , there ’s a cleared departure in the after - dinner drink ’s racy , sweeter and more stiff flavor . The digestif is the post - dessert dessert , a racy treat that inspire droopy eyelids and ease bellies .
The History of Digestifs
Like aperitif , the chronicle of digestifs goes back for centuries . Originally used as cures for every complaint imaginable , digestifs eventually made their way from the pharmacy to the dinner party tabular array during the eighteenth century . The herb , spices and other plants used to make many digestifs were thought to alleviate the belly and assist food digest . Many brands available today retain evidence of their medicinal origins with acid , herbal flavor profiles that may remind some of childhood stale remediation .
How Are Digestifs Made?
Digestifs are an incredibly various category of drinks , include fortified wines like port , spirits — most notably Cognac — and liqueurs like bitter Italian amari . There ’s no cosmopolitan digestif production method . The operation are as various as the styles and flavors of the category .
Where Are Digestifs Made?
Digestifs are a ball-shaped affaire . But like aperitifs , the after - dinner party beverage come predominantly from Italy and France , where they ’ve been made commercially for about two centuries .
France deal heavily in the harder digestifs like brandy , especially the more specialised Armagnac and Cognac , which can only be farm in finical regions within the body politic . Some of the most famous and storeyed digestif liqueurs also come from France , let in the well - known Chartreuse , made by Carthusian monks in Voiron since 1737 .
Digestiviin Italy are perhaps more wide-ranging than digestifs made anywhere else in the world . There ’s the pomace brandy grappa , stacks of brands of bitter amari like the artichoke - based Cynar and intensely acid Fernet - Branca , as well as the sweet-flavored limoncello , which is favour in the south .
Elsewhere in Europe , digestifs are n’t quite as varied , but are still just as in effect — and delightful . Germany exact a class of intensely bittered liqueur called Kräuterlikör , include the barely sippable , but exceedingly shootable Underberg Bitters , as well as the beacon of American college party culture , Jägermeister , among others .
In Spain and its westerly neighbour Portugal , fortified wines dominate . Spain claims nutty sherry , which is made in the Andalucia region , while productive and sweet port is produced in Portugal ’s Douro Valley .
Digestif Styles
Fortified Wines : These wines are made by fortifying wine with a spirit ( most often brandy ) to impart a richer flavor and effectiveness . Many are also get on after fortification . Here are some examples :
Port : A fortified vino made in Portugal ’s Douro Valley , port comes in sweet , dry and semi - dry style . Ruby ports are typically brighter , fruitier and younger , whereas Tawny ports are darker , rich , sweeter and velvety in texture . you may find feeding bottle of port in spirits stores that are anywhere from 10 years honest-to-god to 20 years old . time of origin Ports are generally bottles that have been set by , and aged in glass for 20 years or more . Though it can be made with a white wine substructure , red wine-coloured is far more plebeian in Ports . Sweet Madeira : Often served with dessert , sweet-smelling Madeira has copious , complex flavour of junkie , dried fruits and hot chocolate . By law , it can only be acquire in the Madeira Islands off the coast of Portugal . Sherry : Made in the region of Andalusia , Spain , sherry comes in a variety of flair and nip . The three most common styles serve post - repast are plenteous , nutty and umami - packed amontillado , complex oloroso , which get along in dry and sweet style , and unabashedly delectable and odoriferous Pedro Ximénez . Anything produce byEquipo Navaros — be it amontillado or an En rama sherry — is always exceptional . For Oloroso sherries , Bodegas Gutiérrez Colosia Sangre y Trabajaderois a one of our favored bottlings . One of the best sweet , dessert sherries in the Pedro Ximénez panache ( it ’s actually a blending of Oloroso and PX ) is Lustau ’s East India bottling .
Brandy and Other Distilled Liquor : Whether straight , herb - devoid spirits assist in digestion the same means bitter liqueur and fortified wines do is indecipherable , but a brandy snifter of something solid and ripened is always a terrific way of life to prolong the eve . Here are some examples :
Brandy , Cognac , Armagnac : Brandy is wide - ranging family of spirits that can be made anywhere in the world from a variety of fruits . Most often , however , it is distill from grapes . Two common varieties of brandy are made in the Cognac and Armagnac region in France , which both raise eponymous booze . For bottles of Cognac , we recommend buying are Hennessy Master Blender ’s Select , Louis Royer Force 53 , Gourry de Chadeville Overproof Cognac , or Delamain Grande Champagne Cognac XO.Calvados : An Malus pumila - flavored brandy from the Normandy part of France , Calvados has an alluring fruity , spiced flavour and aroma . Do not be fooled . Calvados is not the same thing as apple brandy , its American opposite number , though they are technically made in the same way . If you ’re just beginning with Calvados try feeding bottle of Lemorton Selection Calvados Domfrontais ( which is the stain ’s young expression and more appropriate forcocktails ) and Christian Drouin Calvados XO ( which is more sweet - y , complex and aged in both ex - sherry and Cognac casks ) . For an American apple brandy , try Laird ’s Straight out of New Jersey , one of the oldest distilleries in America . Grappa : Made by distilling all parts of the grape , grappa is a Greek or Italian brandy with a nip that varies wildly calculate on the character and type of grapevine used . Traditionally made from grape must ( the pressed grape food waste leftover after making wine or grapevine succus ) , Grappa is eminent proof , in the raw and incredibly complex . Aquavit : standardised to knock rummy , aquavit ( or aquavit ) is a Scandinavian spirit made by infuse neutral texture spirit with Carum carvi seeds . There are both American and Scandinavian Aquavits on the market in the US , and both family of the spirit are deserving seeking out . One of the skillful American - made aquavits isHouse Spirit ’s Krogstad Aquavit , which is made in Portland , Oregon . Another favourite aquavite of ours isLinie , which is made in Norway and has a more Carum carvi and dill - heavy flavor . The Linie Aquavit is also aged in ex - Oloroso sherry casks which sacrifice it a complex , lemonlike nuttiness unlike others we ’ve tried .
Scotch : You probably would n’t think it , but Scotch — the whiskyspelled without an “ e”from Scotland — is one of the only whiskies that is typically drunk after dinner party , not with a meal or before it . Once you mean about that for a second though , it makes full horse sense why you see Scotches at the back of a cocktail card with other dessert liqueurs . Unlike bourbon or Irish whiskey , Scotches are well dish out at the end of the Nox .
A Scotch ’s realm it ’s fromwill determine its tone . The two reign styles are meld Scotch whiskey and single malt — made from 100 percentage malted barleycorn at a exclusive still — which ranges in flavor from smoky to briney to earthy . If you desire the notoriously smoky flavored Scotch , look to Islay , where bottles like Laphroaig are produced . If you desire something less smoky , other notable feeding bottle to try are Black Bottle Blended Whisky , Johnnie Walker Green Label , Great King Street Artist ’s Blend , orPig ’s Nose Blended Scotch Whisky . Single Malts to try areThe Balvenie 12 - class Doublewood , Glenmorangie(the original),Highland Park , orThe Glenlivet .
Añejo tequila : Like Scotch , añejo tequilas are also typically serve as a nitecap rather than pre - dinner sipper . Typically richer and heavier than any of the other tequila on the market , añejo tequilas are meant to be attend flat and sipped slow . To be mark as an añejo tequila , this amber - hued spirit must be aged for at least one to three years in oak barrels , give it a complex , caramelized flavor . Some of our best-loved bottle includeTequila Tapatío Añejo , Casamigos Añejo TequilaandCódigo 1530 Añejo .
Bitters and Liqueurs : Prefer a cordial to a fortified wine-coloured or spirit ? Take your pick of century of brands of acrimonious , herbal and sweet cordial . Here are a few examples :
How Do I Drink Digestifs Straight?
Most digestifs are take in without fuss . Pour a measure of your pet chilled or room temperature elixir into a glass and go . Some digestifs like limoncello are taken as shot , whereas a skillful Cognac or arm vino is sipped .
Notable Digestif Cocktails
Old - Fashioned : Perhaps one of the elementary cocktail in existence , this centenarian stalwart continues to captivate drinkers . It ’s the perfect combination of sweet , boozy and aromatized , with a quick blend of sugar , bitters , body of water and the spirit of your choosing .
Sazerac : This double - intent sipper , which dates back to the other 1800s , is a potent way to finish a good repast . It combines a root of Cognac and rye whiskey with loot , an absinthe rinse , Peychaud ’s and Angostura bitters .
Vieux Carré : Invented at New Orleans ’ famed Carousel Bar in the thirties , the Vieux Carré mix rye whiskey with Cognac , odoriferous vermouth , Bénédictine , Peychaud ’s and Angostura bitters . Yes , it ’s as good as it sounds .
Digestifs In Culture
In the 2001 mob filmMade , starring Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau , Vaughn ’s reference , Ricky , grow into an controversy with a reference named Ruiz ( Sean Combs ) over what qualify as a digestif . After Ruiz orders four glasses of Fernet - Branca for the mesa , Ricky decline , saying , “ No . I ’ll take a Strega . ” Ruiz react : “ You pledge ‘ the witch ’ after dinner party ? ” to which Ricky respond , “ Yeah , the Fernet tastes like mariner , and besides Strega is also a digestif . ” Ruiz ’s response ? “ No course of study . It ’s after midnight and this [ expletive ] is order an apéritif ! ” ( In fact , both are digestifs . No trauma , no disgustful , Ricky . )
