Liquore Strega - inspirational for lovers and witches

While Strega is Italian for "witch," this Italian liqueur was initially marketed as a love potion back in the 1860s when it was first conceived. Supposedly, when two people drink Strega together, they are united forever. So forget the roses for that special someone - go for a bottle of Strega instead. Of course, the united forever part of the equation also has its hazards, so choose carefully with whom you share this liqueur.

For those of you not interested in drinking this as a love potion, you'll find that it's a quite pleasant sipping liqueur. It's made from about 70 different herbs and spices including cinnamon, orris root, juniper, and mint. Saffron is used to color it a light yellow. It's soft and smooth, with a nice complexity to its sweet and bitter disposition. It's meant to be drunk as a digestif over ice or simply by itself. Plus it comes in a lovely bottle with wonderfully old-fashioned labels.

There aren't a lot of cocktails that use Strega, but I did comes across this one from the 2010 Manhattan Cocktail Classic that looks like it's worth trying.

Love Potion #44
(created by Paul Zablocki)
2 oz. Rittenhouse rye
1 oz. Carpano Antica vermouth (I suspect it would work fine with Punt e Mes vermouth too, which is cheaper than Antica)
1/2 oz. Strega
Shake or stir with ice

Strega is available at a decent number of Western Washington liquor stores.