The holidays are here. In a time of year filled with epic meals and full bellies in need of soothing, there is perhaps no better time to explore the world of digestifs or after-dinner drinks.

Low in alcohol and mostly herbaceous, digestifs have been consumed for hundreds of years in Europe as a way of settling the stomach after a heavy meal. Now they are becoming popular across America, both in cocktails and on the rocks.

Justin Noel of 1534 bar in New York City grew up drinking the popular digestif, Sambuca. His Italian-American family mixed a hearty dose of Sambuca in with a cup of coffee after dinner. While digestifs are not usually part of the standard American upbringing, Noel says that anyone who is “really into food and culinary experiences is going to enjoy digestifs.”

The easiest way to characterize the digestif genre is in two categories: sweet and bitter. Even the sweet digestifs have a slightly bitter flavor, but the bitter ones also have an astringent bite that gives your taste buds an extra kick.

For the uninitiated, Noel recommends starting with something a little on the sweeter side. He suggests looking to varieties of amari, a variety of Italian digestif, particularly Averna and Ramazzotti with their milder flavors of citrus and herbs.

If you feel like going straight for the hard stuff, try the bartender favorite, Fernet Branca. The strong flavors will hit your mouth like a ton of bricks. If you’re not into the ton-of-bricks-in-your-mouth flavor just yet, it’s worth coming back to Fernet Branca after you’ve cultivated a taste for the flavors in digestifs.

On the bitter side, Cynar is an Italian digestif made from everything but the kitchen sink, including artichokes and twelve different plants and herbs.

If a glass of Averna or Cynar on the rocks is not your thing, there are a variety of cocktails made with digestifs that give you the same unique flavors without the intensity of drinking the spirit straight.

At Entwine in NYC, bartender Duane Fernandez Jr. makes a twist on the classic bitter orange gin cocktail drink, the Negroni, by switching out Campari and sweet vermouth for Fernet Branca and Aperol. This potent mix takes the Negroni “up a notch” says Fernandez in a cocktail he’s named “From Italy to the West Village”.

Sweet Digestifs to try:

Averna
Ramazzotti

Bitter Digestifs:

Fernet Branca
Cynar

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From Italy to the West Village
From Duane Fernandez Jr. of Entwine in New York City

2 ounces Bombay Sapphire East
1 ounces Fernet Branca
1 ounces Aperol
2 dashes of Angostura bitters

Stir ingredients together with ice.  Strain, and serve straight up in a martini glass.  Garnish with lemon twist for some zing.

Bang the Drum
From Justin Noel of 1534 in New York City

2 ounces Cognac
1/2 ounces Ramazotti Amaro
1/4 ounces Bajan Spiced Syrup
Brandy Crusta Style Orange Peel

Stir ingredients, and pour over large format ice in an old fashioned glass.