Boston Rum Week: Minimalist Amaro Tiki *In-Person* *NEW*

In partnership with Boston Rum Week 2026 CCAE is proud to host an exciting Rum Class lead by a Rum Expert! 

Minimalist Amaro Tiki 

As modern tiki and tropical drinks progress, we are beginning to see more and more bitter liqueurs such as amaro entering the picture. While there is a movement to bring in contemporary mixology trends and techniques into the genre, the literature puts the bitter beginnings over 50 years ago with evidence even before the Jungle Bird. These herbal liqueurs bolster the flavors of tropical ingredients, complement rums especially grassy and funky ones, provide structure and depth of flavor past a rum-juice mix, and offer up intrigue that is perfect for the category. Here, we will delve into the definition and development of amari, explore the history and reasons for using bitter liqueurs in tiki drinks, and look at six liqueurs and analyze their use in modern tropical recipes. Instructor: Frederic Yarm

Fred Yarm is a blogger, author, and cocktail enthusiast living in Boston, Massachusetts. His work researching the recipes of the Boston cocktail scene for the Cocktail Virgin blog took book form in 2012 as a 500 drink retrospective of the city's cocktail renaissance entitled Drink & Tell: A Boston Cocktail Book. The book's publication led to Fred being invited behind a bar for night, and this convinced him to give up his day job and become a professional bartender in 2013. His latest book, Boston Cocktails: Drunk & Told, follows up on the first one with a focus on the five years after the first's publication by way of over 850 recipes and more than a dozen essays on cocktails and hospitality.