Meletti 1870 Bitter Aperitivo Italian Liqueur 750ml

In 1870, Silvio Meletti looked at the imported liqueurs arriving from France and elsewhere and decided that the fertile lands of Le Marche — the Adriatic coastal region of central Italy centered on Ascoli Piceno, one of the country's most beautiful and least internationally recognized food and wine territories — could produce something that competed with them. He studied various distillation processes and landed on the bain-marie still: indirect heat, slow evaporation, highly aromatic distillates. He began sourcing his herbs and botanicals from local Le Marche growers who worked exclusively with his distillery. He brought his liqueurs to the Paris Fair of 1878, where his Anisette became an immediate award-winner. And he left his descendants a book of original recipes that the fifth generation of the Meletti family — Mauro and Matteo — continues to follow today.

The 1870 Bitter Aperitivo carries the year of the distillery's founding as its name and its most immediate identity statement. It is an Italian bitter aperitivo in the most traditional sense — bright red, botanically complex, designed for the pre-dinner moment — but specifically and memorably its own thing rather than simply another Campari. "That bright red color and Italian name can only mean one thing," Drinkhacker's Christopher Null wrote. "Wrong. In Meletti 1870, the bitterness comes across almost as an afterthought — Meletti is focused on fruit and spice." A. Dias Blue's assessment, published in 2015, captured it most concisely: "sweet, anise bitter nose; smooth and fruity with ripe herbs and sweet, bitter flavors; lush, long and rich — similar to but softer and smoother than Campari."

Three separate distillates — sweet orange, bitter orange, and a spice and herb infusion — blended with pure spirits to create a mildly bitter, refreshing aperitivo. The flavor profile starts with sweet citrus, moves through a bitter middle, and finishes with gentian, coriander, cinnamon, and clove. Le Marche botanicals. Sorrento citrus. Bain-marie stills. 155 years of family history in a bottle with a price point that makes it the most specifically accessible serious Italian bitter aperitivo available.

Origins & Craftsmanship

The Silvio Meletti Company was founded in 1870 in Ascoli Piceno — a medieval hilltop city in the Le Marche region of central Italy, on the Adriatic coast between Umbria and the sea, whose culinary and artisanal traditions are among the most specifically local and the most specifically under-discovered in all of Italy. Silvio Meletti's founding ambition was direct: to create a local product that could compete with the expensive imported liqueurs that were dominating the Italian market in the late 19th century. After studying various distillation processes, he developed a production method centered on the bain-marie still — indirect heat, slow evaporation, the most delicate and the most specifically aromatic distillation approach available for botanical extraction. He took his liqueurs to the Paris Universal Exposition of 1878, where his Anisette won an award and began the international reputation the house has built across a century and a half.

The production philosophy the Meletti family has maintained across five generations — now led by Mauro and Matteo Meletti — begins with ingredient sourcing of specific and documented regional character. Herbs and botanicals, including anise and local wild botanicals, are sourced from Le Marche growers who work exclusively with Meletti. Citrus fruit is sourced from Italy's top growers in Sorrento — the most celebrated citrus-growing region on the Italian peninsula. Dutch cocoa is imported from the Netherlands for other expressions in the range. No expense is spared in the pursuit of the finest ingredients, and no recipe has been changed from the book Silvio left his descendants.

The 1870 Bitter Aperitivo is produced from three separate distillates — each produced independently before blending: a sweet orange distillate, a bitter orange distillate, and a spice and herb infusion distillate. These are blended with pure spirits and the disclosed botanicals — gentian, coriander, clove, and cinnamon — alongside whatever additional proprietary botanical components form the complete recipe. Sugar is added before bottling. Bottled at 25% ABV.

Critics Reviews

A. Dias Blue (October 2015, confirmed):
"Sweet, anise bitter nose; smooth and fruity with ripe herbs and sweet, bitter flavors; lush, long and rich; similar to but softer and smoother than Campari."

Drinkhacker (Christopher Null, confirmed):
"In Meletti 1870, the bitterness comes across almost as an afterthought, making for a much different experience on the whole. Meletti is focused on fruit and spice. Campari lives to sear your throat and give you that unbending grimace — in a good way, though. Either way, try it as an alternative in a cocktail to Campari — or, better yet, instead of Fernet."

Opici Wines & Spirits (US importer, confirmed official description):
"Three separate distillates: sweet orange, bitter orange, and a spice and herb infusion, are blended with pure spirits to create a mildly bitter, yet refreshing aperitivo. The impressively complex flavor profile starts with sweet citrus, moves through a bitter middle, and finishes with gentian, coriander, cinnamon, and clove notes. Traditionally enjoyed with a splash of club soda or mixed with vermouth and soda to make an Americano, 1870 also lends itself to many other interesting cocktail applications."

Meletti (house characterization):
"Meletti has real weight and a fascinating array of flavors — which makes it ideal in cocktails that can play off that complexity."

Tasting Profile

Nose
Brilliant red with a deep, warm glow. Sweet orange and bitter orange open the nose in tandem — the most immediately inviting and the most specifically citrus-forward aromatic combination of any Italian bitter aperitivo at this price point. The anise-bitter secondary note adds the most characteristically Italian herbal dimension. Cinnamon and clove spice add warm, inviting baking-spice depth.

Palate
The impressively complex flavor profile moves in three stages — the most specifically and the most accurately described tasting architecture in the category. Sweet citrus arrives first and most generously: the sweet orange distillate's most immediately accessible and the most fruit-forward primary flavor. A bitter middle develops with the gentian's structural bitterness and the bitter orange's citrus tartness building to a mid-palate of genuine aperitivo complexity. Then the finish reveals gentian, coriander, cinnamon, and clove — the most warming and the most spiced final stage, the bain-marie distillation's most specifically aromatic contribution carrying through. Smooth and fruity throughout, with the bitterness consistently secondary to the fruit and spice — "an afterthought," as Drinkhacker most memorably characterized it.

Finish
Lush, long, and spiced — cinnamon, coriander, and clove persisting alongside the citrus brightness. The gentian's structural bitterness lingers as the most specifically aperitivo-functional and the most appetite-stimulating closing quality. Softer and more accessible than Campari's more aggressively bitter close.

Quick Overview

Cocktail Suggestions

Meletti 1870 Spritz (the most natural serve)
2 oz Meletti 1870 · 3 oz Prosecco · 1 oz soda water · orange slice. Built over ice in a large Copa glass. The sweet citrus opening and softer bitterness make this the most specifically approachable and the most broadly crowd-pleasing bitter spritz available.

Americano
1.5 oz Meletti 1870 · 1.5 oz sweet vermouth · soda water · orange peel. The producer's own traditional recommendation — the Americano format that allows the 1870's fruit-and-spice complexity to shine without the gin's additional botanical layer.

Meletti Negroni
1 oz Meletti 1870 · 1 oz gin · 1 oz sweet vermouth · expressed orange peel. Drinkhacker's own specific recommendation — "try it as an alternative in a cocktail to Campari." The softer bitterness produces a Negroni of fruit-forward, more accessible character than the standard Campari version.

On the Rocks with Soda
2 oz Meletti 1870 over ice, topped with club soda and garnished with orange. The simplest and the most specifically Italian low-effort aperitivo serve.