Review: Dr. Zero Zero Italian Amarno (Non-Alcoholic)

“Amarno” is not a typo. Rather, it’s a clever portmanteau of amaro and, well, no, part of the growing N/A amaro space. Dr. Zero Zero is a “100% Italian” product, and it refreshingly includes all of the ingredients on the label, which include water, sugar, extracts of sage, quassia, wormwood, Chinese rhubarb, orange, and caramelized sugar. Citric acid, potassium sorbate, and sodium benzoate are all in the mix, as is E150d for color.

Open bottles should be kept refrigerated and consumed within 60 days.

Let’s give it a whirl.

Dr. Zero Zero Italian Amarno Review

The immediate evocation in the glass is one of root beer, a sarsaparilla quality butting up against heavy notes of cola, rhubarb, cloves, and sweet orange, all unfolding with time in glass. There’s a layer of Dutch process cocoa powder that emerges after that, which again evokes something in the flat soft drink character. This is exacerbated by a slight wateriness to the product; it doesn’t have the grip or the rich body of a real amaro or even non-alcoholic Lucano, which remains my far and away #1 N/A amaro selection.

That said, it’s close behind, and served ice cold you probably won’t notice the body’s relative thinness. Mild wormwood-driven bitterness is enduring, pleasant, and lasting, those cloves impossible to ignore as the lengthy finish clings to the palate. While you won’t easily mistake this for an alcoholic amaro, but as I sipped through my sample, I found I really didn’t mind.

A- / $44 [BUY IT NOW FROM AMAZON]

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