Faccia Brutto Spirits LLC

How Faccia Brutto Became Brooklyn’s Favorite Drink

"Founded in 2020 by a former Brooklyn chef, this small-batch amaro and digestivi producer crafts eight liqueurs—including a Chartreuse-like centerbe, a flagship bitter, and seasonal nocino—in a workshop that feels part science lab, part cellar. Production features rows of used oak barrels, a van-size automated bottling machine, and pantry shelves of botanicals (gentian, rhubarb, zedoary, dittany of Crete and more) whose blends are steeped in oversized cold-brew coffee bags; sugar is a primary ingredient and rising costs affect margins. Distinctive, deliberately imperfect branding—a scratchy Bukowski-inspired caricature on the label—helped the bottles become ubiquitous behind bars in Brooklyn and Manhattan, while the maker emphasizes that lasting success will depend on the product’s flavor as the business works to move amaro from a trend to a classic spirit." - Matthew Schneier