Appearance: Dark brown, almost black. Opaque, even against a strong light. Aroma: Menthol, mint, various woody herbal and root extracts. It smells similar to herbal cough mixture. Flavour and Texture: The initial taste at the front of the tongue is mildly minty and herbal with a sweet character but no obvious added sugar. As you move it around the mouth, earthy and woody flavours appear. As it moves into the aftertaste a metallic note suddenly rises that is uncannily like licking rusty metal or tasting blood. The texture is full but not heavy. The nose on this is a little like a tame version of Fernet Branca, with less bright menthol and more earthy aromas. There is no sign of citrus nor any soft herbal flavours. A “china” (pronounced kee-na) is a subclass of amari that is distinguished by a high proportion of Cinchona calisaya bark extract, which contains bitter quinine and other alcaloids. Chinas are related to the quinquina family of drinks which includes Dubonnet and Cocchi Americano. Ferro-chinas are an even further sub-category that also contain ammonium iron citrate and were originally created specifically as blood tonics. It might sound like snake-oil nowadays but there is something to this. Anaemia was a common complaint in the 19th century and tonics such as Bisleri were sold as non-prescription medicine. Today we take iron supplement tablets for the same purpose. This is a difficult drink to rate as it is very much an acquired taste, although not an unpleasant one. Taken neat it requires a glass or two to come to grips with the palate. It can also be taken as a long drink with soda water and a slice of citrus, which makes it much easier but it is still reminiscent of drinking water from an old rusty tap. Have you ever been to Bath in England and “taken the waters”? It tastes exactly like that. It has a mildly drying and astringent quality neat, but this is much reduced in dilution. It’s not as refreshing as an aperitivo but it does have a pleasing lack of sugar. Many amari claim to be digestifs but they sometimes make me feel full and can cause indigestion. This one actually does work as a soothing after-dinner drink. Also I’m not entirely certain whether this is still available. According to Difford’s it ceased production in 2015 but I have seen several online sites here that have it listed. I found a bottle in a suburban Italian liquor/grocery store today but whether it is just old stock, I can’t say. “Above Average (but unusual and not for all tastes)” : 82/100 (3.25 stars)