Sommeliers recommend how to end your night on a bitter sweet note.

Leave it to the Italians, who "mangiare per vivere e non vivere per mangiare" (eat to live, not live to eat) to devise the perfect solution for digestion. Amaro, plural amari, translates to "bitter," but it can bring you sweet harmony when you've had too much "pasta fazool."

Amari are typically produced by macerating herbs, roots, flowers, bark, and citrus peels in alcohol. The herbal liqueur can be served straight up, over ice, or mixed into a cocktail.

Levi Dalton, wine director at Alto (NYC), loves amari for its link to history. "Amari contains the flavor memory of distant vistas. This was how distilling came about; folks finding possible curatives and unique flavor combinations. Before air travel, it was a chance for folks in Milan to have a fernet with the quinine from Peru."

Joe Campanale, sommelier at dell'anima, Anfora, and L'Artusi (NYC), and John Slover, wine director at Bar Henry (NYC) also opt for amaro as after-dinner digestifs.

There are over 300 different kinds of amari, but here's a short list of some favorites from Levi, Joe, and John.

NONINO AMARO QUINTESSENTIA (~$38 / Find It)

A great summer amaro from Friuli. It's lighter, elegant and smooth, made with grappa, aged in oak barrels for five years, and has a sweet orange taste.

FERNET (~$30 / Find It)

Fernet is one of the strongest, more bitter, and intense amari. It's made in Milan from 40 herbs, roots and spices from 4 continents.

SANTA MARIA AL MONTE (~$34 / Find It)

From Genoa, a fernet style amaro in the sense of bitterness, but there's balance of bitterness, herbaciousness, and sweetness, with a touch of mint.

AMARO RAMAZZOTTI (~$20 / Find It)

From Milan, an aromatic amaro with orange peels and a finish of fresh ginger.

CAFFO VECCHIO AMARO DEL CAPO (~$20 / Find It)

Made from an ancient family recipe of 29 Calabrian aromatic herbs and roots. It has intense, earthy, herbal notes and is Levi Dalton's "perennial favorite."

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