Amaretto is a sweet, almond-flavoured, Italian liqueur. It is made from a base of apricot pits or almonds, sometimes both.
The name is a diminutive of the Italian amaro, meaning "bitter," indicating the distinctive flavour lent by the mandorla amara--the bitter almond or the drupe kernel. However, the bitterness is not unpalatable, and the flavour is enhanced by sweeteners, and sometimes sweet almonds, in the final products.[2] Therefore, the liqueur's name can be said to describe the taste as "a little bitter". Conflation of amaro and amore ("love") is primarily responsible for the associations with romance.[3] Amaretto should not be confused withamaro, a different family of Italian liqueurs that, while also sweetened, have a stronger bitter flavour from herbs.
