When the prospect of venturing home through the icy climes of a NYC winter starts to dampen spirits towards the close of a hearty meal, we advocate lingering over a warming glass of amaro. Amaro, or bitter in Italian, is the name for the colorfully labeled, often oddly shaped bottles you find lining the bars in restaurants throughout Italy. Every bottle tells a different tale in its proprietary recipe - various alcohol bases steeped in medicinal herbs and spices such as saffron, liquorice, cinchona, orange peel, and cinnamon bark. Generally served at the end of a meal, these digestifs are a soothing way to extend he evening. We've included our favored Barolo Chinatos in this list as well. Chinatos are crafted with Barolo wine as the alcohol base and are enlivened with cane sugar, herbs and spices. These can be enjoyed before or after the meal, on the rocks or neat with nutty sweets.

You'll also find a few of our favorite Italian vermouths, kitchen necessities for classic cocktails such as the Manhattan and Negroni. Carpano's Antica Formula is complex enough to serve on its own over ice as an aperitif, and is one of the great secret ingredients in dishes where pan deglazing is called for.