77 points from MIXOLOGY: Amaro Yerba in the Top 20 at Bar Convent Berlin 2026

Bar Convent Berlin is the European meeting point of the year for everyone who works behind and around the bar: producers, bartenders, distributors and trade press gather in Berlin, in October, for the trade fair. In 2026 Amaro Yerba was there with ICE, the Italian Trade Agency, alongside other Italian producers of spirits and liqueurs.

For the occasion MIXOLOGY, the bar culture magazine published by Meininger Verlag, organised in collaboration with Bar Convent Berlin a tasting dedicated to Italian spirits, “Italian Spirits”. The panel tasted the products and published the results under the headline “Italy goes BCB”: a Top 20 with a note on each product. Amaro Yerba is among them, with 77 points out of 100. MIXOLOGY — Italy goes BCB ↗, MIXOLOGY — Amaro Yerba ↗

MIXOLOGY’s “Italian Spirits” tasting

MIXOLOGY is one of the reference magazines for German-speaking bar culture: for years it has run comparative tastings of spirits, liqueurs and mixing products, with a score out of 100 and a tasting note written by the editorial team.

The 2026 “Italian Spirits” tasting applied the same method to the Italian producers who came to Bar Convent Berlin with ICE. It produced a Top 20 that brings together amari, vermouths, gins, grappas and aperitivi: a snapshot of what Italian liqueur-making brought to Berlin this year.

The results appear under the headline “Italy goes BCB” in MIXOLOGY magazine, in the issue pictured above, in the trade paper Getränke Zeitung and, in December, in FIZZZ, Meininger Verlag’s magazine for the hospitality trade. And online, where every product’s note remains readable by all.

For us it is a verdict with a particular weight. It comes from an independent panel, which tastes many bottles in the same session and writes for the people who will use those products in a bar.

What MIXOLOGY wrote about Amaro Yerba

The note, in German, describes Amaro Yerba as a very expressive and specific amaro, in which the cold maceration of Argentine yerba mate comes through clearly.

On the nose the panel finds substantial, woody and slightly peaty notes, which it associates with fresh dark tobacco and black tea. On the palate it describes it as demanding and slightly iodised, with a decisive bitterness and a measured sweetness.

The closing line of the note is the one that interests us most: an interpretation of amaro that is “interesting, almost experimental”, and that could surprise as a modifier in cocktails. The note also lists the bottle’s details: producer Argentalia Labs Srl, Emilia-Romagna, 33% vol., 0.7 l format. MIXOLOGY — Amaro Yerba ↗

What we take home

The panel’s words match the choices we have always described. Amaro Yerba is a single-botanical amaro: Argentine yerba mate, leaves and stems, is the only botanical in the recipe. The cold infusion and the ageing in oak barriques are there to keep it recognisable, not to cover it. The tobacco, the tea and the earthy note the judges found are the same descriptors we use when we describe our amaro.

The idea of a cocktail modifier is also a road we know well. An amaro with this bitterness and this restrained sweetness enters a recipe without taking up all the space: the Yerba Tonic and the other serves on our cocktail page come precisely from there.

Finally, one adjective: “experimental”. We take it as a compliment. A yerba mate liqueur made in Italy is something new for the European bar, and knowing that a panel of this standing finds it interesting tells us the direction is the right one.

Amaro Yerba’s recognition so far

The MIXOLOGY selection joins the 4 stars received in the Spirito Autoctono guide, 2023 edition, dedicated to Italian spirits and liqueurs. They are two independent verdicts, from two different panels, three years apart: we list both on the product page and in the press kit, without adding superlatives. Anyone who wants to form their own opinion can read the MIXOLOGY note in full and then, better still, taste.