L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JUNE 12, 2025 www.italoamericano.org 16 L'Italo-Americano A maro Lucano w a s b o r n i n 1894 in Pisticci, a small town in Basilicata, when pastry chef Pasquale Vena b e g a n e x p e r i m e n t i n g b y blending more than thirty h e r b s i n t h e b a c k o f h i s cookie factory to create a wonderfully balanced herbal liqueur. Its recipe, full of cit- rus, floral, and bitter notes, w a s i n i t i a l l y a p p r e c i a t e d locally, but the turning point c a m e i n 1 9 0 0 w h e n t h e House of Savoy officially a d o p t e d A m a r o L u c a n o , earning it national recogni- tion. After enduring a produc- t i o n h i a t u s d u r i n g W o r l d W a r I I , P a s q u a l e ' s s o n s , L e o n a r d o a n d G i u s e p p e , transformed their father's a r t i s a n a l e n d e a v o r i n t o a modern factory in the 1950s and 1960s and, by 1965, pro- duction had surged to over 117,000 liters annually. As Italy's economic boom ushered in new opportuni- t i e s , L u c a n o e m b r a c e d national advertising cam- paigns, most notably with the still-in-use slogan Cosa vuoi di più dalla vita? Un Luca- n o ! ( " W h a t m o r e d o y o u want from life? A Lucano!"), a phrase that became, actual- ly, part of Italy's everyday language. But, as important as its history and its pop flair are, what makes Amaro Lucano truly unique is its produc- tion method: the process begins by selecting, drying, and crushing a rich assort- ment of herbs, from worm- wood and gentian to citrus peels and clary sage; then, these botanicals undergo hot i n f u s i o n i n a l c o h o l a n d water, are pressed, filtered, and aged for five months to allow all flavors to mature. A secret family ingredient is added during this matura- tion, followed by blending with sugar, caramel, essen- tial oils, and water, before bottling. The result is a deep c a r a m e l - b r o w n e l i x i r marked by a bittersweet har- mony and distinctive floral elegance. Clocking in at 28% alco- hol, Amaro Lucano is cele- brated for its accessible yet layered taste, with critics p r a i s i n g i t s o r a n g e m a r - malade brightness, underly- ing walnut and almond rich- ness, and a gentle herbal f i n i s h . I t i s t r a d i t i o n a l l y e n j o y e d n e a t o r o v e r i c e , often with a twist of orange peel, but is also mine-rich in versatility as a base in cock- tails: the Lucano Ameri- cano, for instance, blends it with sweet vermouth and soda water for a refreshing aperitivo, while the Lucano M u l e g i v e s t h e c l a s s i c M o s c o w M u l e a M e d i t e r - ranean twist by replacing vodka with the amaro. Bar- tenders have also used it in place of other bitter liqueurs in twists on the Negroni and the Paper Plane, inspired by its complexity of flavors. B u t A m a r o L u c a n o i s also a cultural ambassador, as third and fourth-genera- tion descendants of Pasquale Vena continue leading the company, imbuing it with tradition, innovation, and the warmth of the Lucanian people. Today, the bitter is w i d e l y e x p o r t e d t o m o r e than 30 countries across five continents, and it is especially popular in the US, China, and Germany, where it is available in specialty liquor shops, bars, and duty- free outlets. Retail prices typically range between €17 and €28 for a 750 ml bot- tle, translating to $25–30 in U S m a r k e t s . T h e b r a n d ' s international growth is sup- ported by partnerships with importers and ambassadors, and is particularly engaged with Italian expatriate com- munities, who help introduce the amaro to new audiences. Lucano's excellence has also been repeatedly recog- n i z e d : i t w o n G o l d a t t h e 2014 San Francisco World Spirits Competition, three stars at the 2014 Superior Taste Award, and further international acclaim at the Brussels spirits competition, with each of these accolades confirming its global appeal and craftsmanship. In Italy, Amaro Lucano i s a b e l o v e d d i g e s t i f , b u t above all, it remains deeply rooted in Basilicata's culi- nary traditions and in that quintessentially southern spirit where simple, local ingredients become expres- sions of identity and her- itage. Today, as Italian bit- t e r s e n j o y a g l o b a l renaissance – spurred in part by their popularity in cock- t a i l c u l t u r e a n d a m o n g t r e n d s e t t e r s i n c i t i e s l i k e L o n d o n a n d N e w Y o r k – Lucano continues to stand out for its authenticity and regional character, as well as its enduring connection with a key element of Made in Italy: family. I n the collective imagi- nation, the invention of mobile phones is tied to the booming consumer culture of the 1980s. But long before the Motorola DynaTAC or the first brick-sized handsets made headlines, an Italian engineer had already envisio- ned – and built – the first portable phone. In the mid- 1930s, Domenico Mastini developed what can rightly be considered the prototy- pe of the modern mobile phone. His invention, pro- duced by the Fimi-Phonola factory in Saronno, allowed users to place calls from a moving vehicle to any num- ber on the urban telephone n e t w o r k , s o m e t h i n g t r u l y revolutionary for the era. Mastini's system worked through a fixed radio tran- sceiver and a vehicle-moun- ted phone unit. It relied on alternating frequencies – 46 MHz for transmission and 42 M H z f o r r e c e p t i o n o n t h e base unit, with the opposite c o n f i g u r a t i o n o n t h e c a r phone. The range extended s e v e r a l d o z e n k i l o m e t e r s , allowing real-time communi- cation while on the road, a g r o u n d b r e a k i n g f e a t t h a t anticipated mobile connecti- vity by decades. T h e r e a l i n n o v a t i o n , however, lay in Mastini's far- reaching vision for the futu- re: he designed a national n e t w o r k o f a u t o m a t i c r a d i o r e p e a t e r s , placed strategically on high ground to allow for seamless long- d i s t a n c e c a l l s . I t w a s , i n e s s e n c e , a n e a r l y a n d remarkably intuitive blue- print for the infrastructure that would later power cellu- lar networks worldwide. In 1942, in the middle of World War II, Mastini went even further by proposing a radio- based switching center on Mount Penice to link major cities in northern Italy via airwaves. However, only one connection – between Milan a n d B e r g a m o – w a s e v e r implemented, and only brie- fly, during the short-lived Republic of Salò. After the war, Mastini's project was quietly shelved. I t a l y o p t e d t o r e b u i l d i t s national telephone system using cable, and the success of Francesco Vecchiacchi's r a d i o r e l a y l i n k b e t w e e n M i l a n a n d R o m e d i v e r t e d attention from Mastini's pio- neering work. Yet, his legacy remains a remarkable one: decades before smartphones b e c a m e o u r d a i l y c o m p a - nions, it was an Italian who d r e a m e d u p t h e i d e a o f talking on the move. Was he visionary or simply ahead of his time? Who knows…But certainly, Domenico Mastini deserves recognition as the forgotten mind behind the world's first mobile phone. Domenico Mastini had the idea of a portable phone already in the 1930s (Image cre- ated with DALL-E 2) The world's first cell phone? Made in Italy in 1935! A century of bitters: how Amaro Lucano became a global icon IMPRESA ITALIA MADE IN ITALY TOP BRANDS BUSINESS & ECONOMY The traditional, colorful label of Amaro Lucano (Photo: Cineberg Ug/Dreamstime)

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