Review: Lo-Fi Aperitifs Vermouth and Amaro, Complete Lineup
The story of Lo-Fi Aperitifs begins in California, where regionally appropriate botanicals are sourced to create various vermouths and an amaro. All of them use wine for the base — even the amaro — which keeps things light and lively, with abv kept in check.
While we previous looked at Lo-Fi’s Sweet Vermouth in our exhaustive roundup of the category, this is our first look at the Napa-based operations Dry Vermouth and Gentian Amaro. Read on for our thoughts.
Lo-Fi Aperitifs Dry Vermouth – White wine and grape spirits infused with fennel, coriander, cardamom, elderflower, cherry, anise, and chamomile. A pretty shade of yellow, imbued with plenty of herbs — particularly lip-smacking fennel and ample Eastern-edged coriander. The combination recalls a saffron quality, with hints of oxidized wine, lemon peel, and lime leaf in the mix. The finish is a mix of sweetness and acidity, evoking notes of basil. Pairs surprisingly well with gin, making for a fresh and pretty martini, never overwhelming the gin but keeping its unique flavors at top of mind. 16.5% abv. A-
Lo-Fi Aperitifs Sweet Vermouth (2024) – White wine and grape spirits infused with rhubarb, cocoa, clove, coriander, cardamom, orange oil bitters, vanilla, gentian root, cherry bark, dried fruit, anise, and coconut. Note that this sweet vermouth is a dark gold in color, not the usual red. Highly floral with plenty of anise as noted previously, with a heavy oxidized wine character prominent. It’s not all that different from the dry vermouth, frankly, just sweeter and more floral. More fruit here, too, alternately evoking orange, grapefruit, apricot, and — in the end — banana. I like it considerably more today than I did during the roundup; whether that means the recipe has changed or my palate has, I don’t know. Solid Manhattan fodder, too. 16.5% abv. B+
Lo-Fi Aperitifs Gentian Amaro – White wine and grape spirits infused with anise, cinchona bark, orange oil bitters, hibiscus, grapefruit, ginger, bois de rose, and gentian root. Pours the color of a light red wine, offering a nose of cinnamon and cloves, with a bold fruitiness — cherries and strawberries. The palate sees the bittering qualities quickly come into focus, with the cinchona and gentian providing a modest bitterness, followed by notes of dark chocolate. Some dried florals — heavy hibiscus — infuse the finish, which also allows lingering dark fruit and chocolate notes to hang on. The fairly light body keeps things lively and easygoing, with no hard edges to be found in the proceedings whatsoever. For those who find Campari too aggressive, this is an interesting alternative. 17.5% abv. A-
each $25 / lofiaperitifs.com
Lo-Fi Aperitifs Gentian Amaro
$25
