As a bartender with a decade of experience, Allison Everitt — now manager at a bar in the Milwaukee Junction neighborhood of Detroit — has seen tastes change and evolve in real time. “No one ever really cared about Detroit, in the sense that we don’t really get the credit for our food and beverage industry,” she says. “But we’re getting to play a part in the education about craft cocktails in Detroit.”
A big part of that education involves an artichoke liqueur with a name that’s as fun to say as it is to craft cocktails with: Cynar. (It’s pronounced “chee-NAHR,” by the way.) It’s led the way for the cocktail crowd’s growing interest in amari and low-ABV drinks in general.
Thanks to customers clamoring for the stuff, Everitt notes that the bar where she works now carries a variety of amari on the back bar. “When you walk into the bar, that’s what you see first,” she says.
Of course, some bottles stand out more than others. When you put a bottle that boasts an illustration of an artichoke and a conversation-starting name in front of your clientele, it’s bound to attract some attention — which is exactly how Everitt likes it. After all, Cynar’s ability to draw curious customers’ eyes beats saying, “How about a low-ABV drink made from artichokes?” Together, Everrit and Cynar serve as a cocktail-slinging dream team.
How Cynar Stands Out From the Amaro Crowd
Cynar is one of Everitt’s favorite amari and one of the most popular at the bar she manages. It stands out from the amaro crowd for a lot of reasons, one of which is its unique flavor. Here’s how Everitt describes it: “The vegetal notes are unique to Cynar, although they don’t scream ‘artichoke!’ as everybody thinks. But the earthy, vegetal, [and] savory notes are definitely distinct.”
Where do those flavors come from? That’s a well-kept secret. All we can tell you is that Cynar, which first launched in 1952 in Italy, contains 13 herbs and botanicals, one of which is, as the world knows, artichoke.
“I think it’s less bracing, less bitter, which makes it a little bit more approachable and less aggressive,” Everitt says. “It doesn’t lean one way or the other. It’s not too bitter or too sweet. [It’s] a really good representation of the category of Italian amari.”
Cynar is a Versatile and Distinctive Mixer
Cynar is a secret weapon in many bartenders’ arsenal, and Everitt is no exception. “Being low-proof but still really complex, layered, and aromatic makes it an easy modifier in cocktails,” she says. “I’ve used it in a lot of different applications.”
She likes to use it in drinks that normally call for vermouth or other amari — “I’ve subbed it into a Paper Plane and a Boulevardier” — but also uses it in cocktails that may raise an eyebrow. Take, for instance, an artichoke … Daiquiri? “I think a dark rum Daiquiri with a half ounce of Cynar gives a great vegetal accent. It livens up an already delicious classic.”
Everitt is quick to point out that you don’t need to head to a bar to enjoy Cynar — it’s easy to use at home, too. It’s delicious as a neat pour, of course, and it’s fun to mess around with it in countless cocktails or even non-cocktails. “The thing I love about Cynar is how versatile it is,” she says. “I enjoy throwing it in my lattes or hot chocolate for a little pick me up, especially in the colder months — half an ounce will do! Our first real snowstorm this year, we made Cynar snow cones.”
In warm weather months, she mixes it with sparkling water or tonic for highballs and spritzes. And then there’s cooking with Cynar: “I’ve also used it in a glaze! Something along the lines of soy, maple, Cynar, vinegar, and baking spices. It provided the herbaceous notes I was looking for without having to run to the store for fresh herbs.”
Different Cynar Cocktails for Different Palates
The bar Everitt manages is known as an industry bar, one where bartenders from other establishments go after their shifts or on their nights off. If you stop in for a cocktail, you’re likely to get some educated opinions from both sides of the bar. Since Cynar has been known as a “bartender’s handshake” drink for years, it tends to spark interest among non-industry customers when they see the “cool kids” drinking it.
“We get a lot of people in the industry that are drinking [Cynar] next to a customer that might not have any idea what it is. And so conversation alone can strike it up. They see that bright red label on the green bottle with a giant artichoke on it and they’re like, ‘What the heck is that? How does that work?’”
How Everitt introduces Cynar to newbies depends on what they’re drinking. “I’m going to size them up,” she says. “If they’re already drinking something like a sour, I’m going to make them a sour with it — a blend with a little lemon and a little simple syrup. It’s bright, it’s quenching, and it’s palatable. On the other hand, if this person is more of a Negroni drinker or an Old Fashioned type, I might make them something stirred and boozy with it, like a Black Manhattan variation [with Cynar subbing for vermouth].”
One of her favorite ways to convert the unconverted is with a cocktail created by the legendary Audrey Saunders. Her Little Italy cocktail is described by Everitt as “the first breakout Cynar cocktail,” a rye Manhattan variation that employs a half ounce of Cynar. “I’ve made that drink for a lot of people before without telling them what’s in it,” Everitt says. “They’re always trying to figure it out, like, ‘I know, it’s a Manhattan, but what is that?’ And then you drop that bottle of artichoke liqueur [in front of them], and they’re like, ‘Whoa!’ I kind of love doing that.”
Cynar Leads the Way in the Low-ABV Revolution
Things move fast in the drinks world. Just a few years ago, it seemed like the only folks drinking Cynar were bartenders. Now, in Detroit and other cities where people know delicious when they taste it, that’s changing in a big way. “In 2019, 2020, we were just starting to add low-ABV drinks to our menu,” Everitt remembers. “Cynar was one of the first staple amari to have on the back bar for most. And now, I work across the street from a low-ABV bar. Another bar just opened up on the east side of Detroit, and that’s an all-amaro bar. So it’s interesting to see how that trend has just grown a lot over the last two years.”
It’s also changed how Everitt herself drinks. “Nowadays,” she says, “I prefer [Cynar] neat. It’s kind of weird to see that evolution of the cocktail bartender. I guess you go from shooting 100-proof spirits to like, ‘Oh, I much prefer a neat amaro.’” She’s not alone. If the people you entrust to make your cocktails are consuming Cynar in everything from neat pours to cocktails to, well, glazed hams, shouldn’t you be getting in on the action as well?
It’s as easy as picking up a bottle. You can’t miss it — it’s the one with the artichoke on the label.
This article is sponsored by Cynar.
