Anathema to a spirits writer is getting a bad cold.  Once the congestion sets in, there’s nothing you can do but wait. It’s like being a basketball player forced to sit on the bench and watch the game because of a sore knee or pulled muscle–it’s amazingly frustrating.

This last week, I picked up my annual change of seasons cold. It’s something I always try to avoid but never manage to be able to. I have a child in pre-school, so it’s almost a guarantee I’ll get this seasonal cold. As with any cold, it put an immediate stop to tastings and writing reviews. There’s just no way to fairly judge spirits if you can’t fully taste or smell them. For me, I had a ton of other writing to do as I’m catching up on all my stories that I’m writing on my trip to Cognac (see the full article here). Imagine how life would be for a master distiller for a major brand, where it would be almost impossible to say, “Hey, look, I can’t taste right now, I’ve got a cold.”

In general, when I am sick I do not drink.  One key to getting over a cold is to stay super hydrated, and many spirits act as a diuretic (part of what makes a hangover bad is usually dehydration). As a result, you’ll find tea in my cup more than anything else. There is one category of spirits that I do turn to when I am fighting a cold or have a sore throat—Italian Amaro. These bitter herbal spirits are designed as digestifs, or spirits that help your body more easily digest a meal. I’ve found many of these amari also help sooth sore throats, quiet pesky coughs, and tame bad congestion.

The three amari which I generally turn to are Nardini Amaro, Cynar, and Fernet-Branca. Nardini has a wonderful cinnamon note in its bitter herbal mix. It’s sweet but not too sweet, and at 31% alcohol it doesn’t have too much of a kick.  Cynar, made from artichoke, is softer and sweeter than Nardini and has much less alcohol at 16.5%. If I feel like I want to bring in the big guns, I go with Fernet, which at 39% alcohol is the strongest of the bunch, and from a taste perspective is also the strongest.

Amaro isn’t a cure-all—I still have to suffer my way through the cold—but I do get real relief from my symptoms with no side effects.