Appalachian Amaro

At Eda Rhyne, Chris Bower and Rett Murphy are making amaro that pays tribute to Appalachian folk medicine.

- By Margaret Eby

THE FIRST TIME Chris Bower tried amaro, he tasted something familiar. The complex, herbaceous flavors, made famous in Italy, reminded him of the folk remedies that he grew up making with his grandparents in rural Haywood County, North Carolina. In this part of Appalachia, wild local plants were prized as ways to reduce inflammation and ease respiratory illnesses, since other sources of medicine were often in short supply. "I'm all for modern medicine, but I don't see it as an either/or. It can be a both/and," says Bower. So when he was introduced to the world of amaro, he had a revelation. “I was like, 'Holy crap!' This is what we do, but they just add sugar, commercialize it, and celebrate it." Using the barks, roots, flowers, and stems of more than 70 local plants, Bower began distilling fernet (a bitter amaro) in his Asheville, North Carolina, home. Thanks to the time he'd spent harvesting with his family, Bower could quickly identify which plants were edible and flavorful. "That was the start," he says.