Named for the patron saint of vintners and nestled in the l’On neighborhood of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, Saint Urban’s is known for its thoughtfully curated selection of wine, cheese, and chocolates. It’s ironic, then, that one of the bar’s signature cocktails, the Amaro Old-Fashioned, came about entirely by accident.
While tending bar for friends one evening, founding partner Warren Johnson was asked to make a classic old-fashioned, an easy-enough task until he found himself short on both bitters and simple syrup. True to the spirit of the European-inspired bar, Warren turned to Averna Amaro, a liqueur he deems a standby for mixing—and sipping straight up. “I knew instinctively that Averna was going to give me all of that complexity in one simple pour,” Warren recalls, “It just worked.”
The resulting two-ingredient old-fashioned could not be simpler. The Sicilian liqueur does most of the heavy lifting: Notes of anise, rosemary, and juniper stand in for the flavor of Angostura bitters, while the amaro’s high sugar content provides the caramel sweetness of demerara sugar. And the bittersweet nature of this drink naturally lends itself to the treat Warren says makes the best accompaniment—a high-quality chocolate.
Saint Urban’s approach to cocktails is all about refined simplicity. “Averna creates a beautiful, elegant sophistication that you’re adding to a rye whiskey,” Warren says, “which results in a much rounder, more amplified cocktail.”