Maine’s half-dozen or so producers of cocktail bitters and digestifs occupy a small, niche corner of the alcohol market. But bitters and digestifs are the unsung heroes of the cocktail world. Digestifs like amari can be sipped on their own, though like dashes of cocktail bitters, they’re often subtly woven into drinks. Shelves in Vena’s bitters worskhop are loaded up with about 90 tinctures — infusions of individual bittering agents and flavoring ingredients — which they combine in precise quantities to produce their line of 16 cocktail bitters. (Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer)SAFFRON MARTINIThis recipe from Hunt + Alpine plays off the saffron notes in Portland’s Handshake amaro bitters.

Source: CNN February 24, 2026 15:15 UTC