Distilleria Varnelli Liquore Caffé Moka Pievebovigliana, Marche

1000ml bottle

30% abv

Deep brown, nearly opaque. The nose leads with fresh espresso, not artificial, followed by cocoa, tobacco, honey, caramel, and warm spice in the background. The palate is moderately sweet, balancing the coffee's natural bitterness and honey sweetness. Vanilla and caramel through the mid-palate. The finish is clean, medium in length, and coffee-forward throughout.

Real Italian espresso, grain alcohol, mountain wildflower honey. No artificial flavors or colorings.

Espresso is produced by a fourth-generation Italian roaster whose family has worked with Varnelli since the early 20th century. The coffee is macerated using traditional artisanal methods, then blended with grain alcohol and local honey. Aged a minimum of six months before bottling.

The Caffè Moka sits somewhat apart from the rest of the Varnelli portfolio. Where Sibilla and dell'Erborista are uncompromising amari rooted in the Sibillini's medicinal botanical tradition, this is a more approachable product — a coffee liqueur built for versatility. It's the foundation of the calzolaro, a simple two-ingredient drink endemic to the Marche: Varnelli anise liqueur and Caffè Moka combined, a regional institution Varnelli essentially invented a market for when they released this product to accompany their flagship anisette.

The distillery was founded in 1868 by Girolamo Varnelli, a herbalist working in Pievebovigliana in the shadow of the Sibillini Mountains, and is now in its fourth generation — run entirely by women from the Varnelli family.

Works neat over ice, in an espresso martini, or poured over gelato.