bitter-tasting spirit drink or bitter
concept / concept-eu-bitter-spirit-category
ビター系スピリッツ（苦味系蒸留酒）区分
Bitter-tasting spirit drink or bitter is a legal category in EU spirits regulations for spirit drinks whose flavor is predominantly bitter. Drinks in this category may be sold under the name or .
On this page (6 sections)
Reading the bitterness
Category 30 of Annex II to the former Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 established 「風味が支配的に苦い蒸留酒（bitter-tasting spirit drink or bitter）」 (in translation: "a spirit drink with a predominantly bitter taste (bitter-tasting spirit drink or bitter)") as a legal category and set a minimum alcoholic strength of 15%. It provided that drinks in this category could be sold under the names "amer" or "bitter", with or without other words. The same category appears in Annex I to the current Regulation (EU) 2019/787, whose English text does not use the word "amaro". Apart from whether the subject is singular or plural, the authentic Italian text of the former regulation has the same wording.
The word "amaro" does not appear anywhere in the English text of the regulation; only "amer" and "bitter" are specified as alternative legal names. In contrast, the authentic Italian text of the current regulation heads the same category 30 "Bevanda spiritosa di gusto amaro o bitter", defines in point (a) 「支配的に苦い風味の蒸留酒」 (in translation: "a spirit drink with a predominantly bitter flavor"), and permits marketing under the designation "amaro" or "bitter" in point (c). Thus the name "amaro", used in Italian, is included in the legal name of this bitter category.
The current Regulation (EU) 2019/787 added a point (d) absent from the former regulation, exceptionally permitting the terms "amaro" or "bitter" in the description, presentation, and labeling of 「苦味のあるリキュール（liquori di gusto amaro）」 (in translation: "bitter liqueurs (liquori di gusto amaro)") even when the drinks do not meet category 30’s requirements. The corresponding provision of the former Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 only reserved use of "amer" and "bitter" for products outside the regulation’s scope generally; it did not mention liqueurs.
Sources for this overview
Checked for this overview: Used the definition, the 15% requirement, and the amer/bitter naming provision in the English text. / Used the absence of the word amaro from the former regulation’s English text.
Checked for this overview: Used the point that the authentic Italian text of the former regulation is identical except for singular versus plural. / Used the absence of a liqueur reference in the former regulation for comparison.
Checked for this overview: Used the heading, definition, and amaro labeling provision in the authentic Italian text. / Used the liqueur exception in point (d) of the current regulation.
Follow the connections
amaro (bitter liqueur type) →is graded by→ bitter-tasting spirit drink or bitter
Structured claims — open a section to read each claim's confidence, evidence and limits
Safety and regulation (4)
Scope: A comparison limited to the English texts. The word 『amaro』 does not appear in either English text. The Italian texts had not yet been checked for this claim.
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concept-eu-bitter-spirit-category —has_history→ "The EU regulatory bitter category continues from category 30, 『Bitter』, in Annex II to former Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 (2008) to category 30, 『Bitter』, in Annex I to current Regulation (EU) 2019/787 (2019). Both regulations permit drinks in that category to be sold under the names 『amer』 or 『bitter』."Scope: The correspondence between the Italian colloquial term "amaro" and the "bitter" category under EU law. The English-language text of the regulation itself does not use the word "amaro".
Note: This makes explicit, in claims.csv and on the basis of checking the regulation's text, an arrangement already present in the description of the existing ingredient-amaro entry.
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ingredient-amaro —is_classified_by→ concept-eu-bitter-spirit-categoryScope: The Italian authentic text of EU Regulation 2019/787, Annex I, category 30, and of the old Regulation 110/2008, Annex II, category 30
Note: Whereas the word "amaro" does not appear in the English text, the authentic Italian text explicitly gives "amaro" as a legal alternative name. This answers the previously unconfirmed point of whether "amaro" is used as a legal name in the Italian version of the regulation.
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concept-eu-bitter-spirit-category —is_defined_as→ "The heading of the Italian authentic text of the current Regulation (EU) 2019/787, Annex I, category 30, is "Bevanda spiritosa di gusto amaro o bitter", and (a) defines it: "La bevanda spiritosa di gusto amaro o bitter è una bevanda spiritosa dal gusto prevalentemente amaro" (a spirit drink with a predominantly bitter taste), while (c) permits placing it on the market using the "dicitura «amaro» o «bitter»" (the labelling "amaro" or "bitter"). The old Regulation (EC) No 110/2008, Annex II, category 30, carries the same heading and defining wording (differing only in that the subject is plural, "Le bevande spiritose...sono") and a provision equivalent to (c)."Scope: A comparison of EU Regulation 2019/787, Annex I, category 30(d), with the old Regulation 110/2008, Article 5(3), and Annex II, category 32
Note: A change in the statutory text between 2008 and 2019, in that the scope of application of the word "amaro" was explicitly extended from the bitter-spirits category to liqueurs (liquori di gusto amaro) as well. We record this as the history by which "amaro", colloquially used in the Italian-speaking world (as a liqueur type), was explicitly connected into the framework of EU law.
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concept-eu-bitter-spirit-category —differs_from→ "The current Regulation (EU) 2019/787, Annex I, category 30, adds a point (d) not present in the old Regulation 110/2008, providing: "In deroga alla lettera c), il termine «amaro» o «bitter» può essere utilizzato nella descrizione, nella presentazione e nell'etichettatura di liquori di gusto amaro" (in translation: "By way of derogation from point (c), the term «amaro» or «bitter» may be used in the description, presentation and labelling of bitter-tasting liqueurs" — permitting, as an exception, the use of the words "amaro"/"bitter" for the description, presentation, and labelling of bitter-tasting liqueurs even when they do not meet category 30's requirements). The corresponding provision of the old Regulation 110/2008 (Article 5(3)) only reserves the use of the words "amaro"/"bitter" for products in general "not covered by this Regulation," with no mention of liqueurs (category 32)."