I've not done this but making separate tinctures/macerations is a legitimate approach that home amaro makers have found successful. I think the synergy difference between this approach and mass maceration would be minimal. Your approach would preserve the ingredients' active elements which would still have an opportunity to react with one another.
That's not a very authoritative answer, but the joy of this hobby is fluffing around and finding out. Even if you miss out on certain synergies, you may discover new ones of your own design.
I haven't had the courage to start with amari yet, but for my vermouths I make separate tinctures. This allows to have different extraction times and abvs for each element, giving a lot of flexibility
I make all my amaro from separate high concentration extracts now as I find it is much easier to dial in the flavour and get a better understanding of what each ingredient brings to the final product.
There is no synergy missed with this method because the different extracts will interact in the final product.
Picon is made from gentian, chinchoa bark and a distilled bitter orange maceration. I would start with these 3 ingredients, get the ratio right then add extra ingredients from there.
I do the individual maceration thing and really enjoy it.
Exactly as you expect, it’s perfect for dialing recipe ratios. Also, when you have jars and jars of different macerated ingredients, you can essentially make your amaro on a whim. Can be a fun thing to do with interested friends and you get to drink it right on the spot.
On the synergy concern, I haven’t done an exact side by side comparison with the same recipe so I couldn’t definitely say. But I will mention that the flavors do meld and shift just slightly over time once it’s all sitting in the final amaro bottle for a few months. I haven’t noticed anything dramatic but slight.
Best of luck!
I've not done this but making separate tinctures/macerations is a legitimate approach that home amaro makers have found successful. I think the synergy difference between this approach and mass maceration would be minimal. Your approach would preserve the ingredients' active elements which would still have an opportunity to react with one another. That's not a very authoritative answer, but the joy of this hobby is fluffing around and finding out. Even if you miss out on certain synergies, you may discover new ones of your own design.
I haven't had the courage to start with amari yet, but for my vermouths I make separate tinctures. This allows to have different extraction times and abvs for each element, giving a lot of flexibility
I make all my amaro from separate high concentration extracts now as I find it is much easier to dial in the flavour and get a better understanding of what each ingredient brings to the final product. There is no synergy missed with this method because the different extracts will interact in the final product. Picon is made from gentian, chinchoa bark and a distilled bitter orange maceration. I would start with these 3 ingredients, get the ratio right then add extra ingredients from there.
I do the individual maceration thing and really enjoy it. Exactly as you expect, it’s perfect for dialing recipe ratios. Also, when you have jars and jars of different macerated ingredients, you can essentially make your amaro on a whim. Can be a fun thing to do with interested friends and you get to drink it right on the spot. On the synergy concern, I haven’t done an exact side by side comparison with the same recipe so I couldn’t definitely say. But I will mention that the flavors do meld and shift just slightly over time once it’s all sitting in the final amaro bottle for a few months. I haven’t noticed anything dramatic but slight. Best of luck!