Matthew Kelly / Supercall

Entertaining
Easy 2-Ingredient Cocktails to Make with Not-So-Craft Beer

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โ€œIโ€™m a Budweiser, guy,โ€ you say to yourself. โ€œMaybe Bud Light if Iโ€™m feeling bloatedโ€”but thatโ€™s it.โ€ Thereโ€™s no room for cocktails in your life, no place for fancy glassware and no way youโ€™ll ever drink anything classified as an โ€œamaro.โ€ But if you grew up in France, youโ€™d think differently. In fact, that amaro youโ€™re so averse to would be a part of your identityโ€”something that told the world youโ€™re a tough guy, especially when mixed with beer to make a (gasp!) cocktail.

The Picon Biรจre is a simple mix of draught beer and Amer Picon (a bitter French aperitif made with oranges, gentian and cinchona), thatโ€™s served in French cafes which usually double as bars. โ€œThat was a blue collar drink when I was growing up,โ€ says Marie Tribouilloy, co-owner of Brooklynโ€™s Ops where she serves a take on the drink comprised of CioCiaro Amaro poured into a bottle of Budweiser. โ€œItโ€™s an easy way to get drunk. My friends used to drink it when they wanted to be more masculine. Itโ€™s funny for me to make it here where amaro is more elevated and subtle and feminine, and then to put it into Bud, the King of Beers.โ€

The resulting two-ingredient cocktail is far greater than the sum of its parts. The bitter, citrusy spirit transforms the bready Bud into a deeply drinkable (and extra boozy) cherry cola-esque sipper. Itโ€™s sophisticated yet easy, everyday but different. And because itโ€™s mixed directly in the bottle, it requires zero dish washing or effort. All you have to do is take a big swig out of the beer, pour in the amaro and let the carbonation do the mixing for you. And itโ€™s not the only way to use less-than-craft beer in a simple but spectacular cocktail. Here, the recipe for Opsโ€™s Budweiser Amaro, along with two other two-ingredient beer-tails that can be made right in the bottle.

Matthew Kelly / Supercall
In place of the traditional Amer Picon, which is nearly impossible to find stateside, the bartenders at Ops use CioCiaro Amaro in this take on a Picon Biรจre. CioCiaroโ€™s bitter orange notes and viscosity are similar to Amer Picon. โ€œItโ€™s a good way to introduce amaros to Budweiser drinkers,โ€ says Tribouilloy. It would also work vice versa, should you want to get your snooty amaro-drinking friends in on the simple joys of a just-cracked Bud.

The Essentials

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amaro
Matthew Kelly / Supercall
Claire Sprouse, bar director of Sunday In Brooklyn, came up with this brilliantly simple spin on a Shandy. Made with Lo-Fi Aperitifsโ€™ hibiscus-, grapefruit- and ginger-flavored amaro, along with a bottle of every bartenderโ€™s favorite beer, Miller High Life, it is shockingly delicious. Stained pink by the amaro, the beer becomes bright and fruity, like an easy-drinking citrus soda. Just one sip will have beer drinkers seeking out amaro and cocktailians heading to the corner store to pick up a six-pack of brewskies.  

The Essentials

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Amaro
Matthew Kelly / Supercall
Like a crisp breath of fresh fall air, this spiced beer-tail is the perfect tailgating tipple. Made with artichoke-based Cynar (donโ€™t worry, it doesnโ€™t actually taste like artichokes) and toasty Coors Banquet, itโ€™s remarkably tasty and complex for a two-ingredient drink. Cynarโ€™s notes of baking spices come forward, using the yeasty beer as a base. The result is cozy but crisp, and terrifically easy drinking.

The Essentials

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Cynar

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