●THE AMARO ATLAS

RECORD tempus-fugit-spirits · EVIDENCE GRADE B · UNCLAIMED · LAST VERIFIED 2026-07-05

Tempus Fugit Spirits

Novato · United States · 38.107, -122.570

REGION: north americaTRADITION: World amaroWEBSITE ↗

ZONE 01 — VERIFIED FACTS

Company base
P.O. Box 658, Novato, California 94948, USAA·2
Founding
No specific founding year is stated by the producer. Grade-B press (Berry Bros & Rudd) places it 'in the early 2000s', founded by John Troia and Peter Schaf. The producer's own site references 2007 only as the year US absinthe was re-legalised, the context for the founders becoming an independent importer, not a stated company founding date. The draft's 'Founded 2007, San Francisco' claim is not supported by any source checked and has been corrected.B·6
Business model
US revival house recreating historic 19th/early-20th-century liqueur, bitters and absinthe recipes; several products (including both amaro-conforming SKUs) are produced under contract at European distilleries (Switzerland) rather than in-house in CaliforniaA·2
Gran Classico Bitter ABV
28% ABV (56 proof)A·3
Gran Classico Bitter origin
Recreates an 1860s Turin bitter apéritif recipe; recipe later acquired and produced by Swiss distillery E. Luginbuhl from 1925A·3
Fernet Del Frate ABV
44% ABV (88 proof)A·4
Fernet Del Frate production site
Made in micro-batches at Matter Distillery, Switzerland, from a recipe purchased in 1930 from a long-closed Italian distillery; a monk attribution ('Frate Angelico Fernet') is described by the producer as a recent discovery, not an established factA·4
Full product range
18 SKUs across four categories (Liqueurs & Amaros, Aperitifs & Vermouth, Cherries & Bitters, Absinthes) on the live site; only Gran Classico Bitter and Fernet Del Frate conform to the Atlas amaro spec (the rest are creme liqueurs, vermouth/chinato or non-potable dashing bitters); no 'Alpino' product exists in the rangeA·5

ZONE 02 — AI-COLLATED SUMMARY

AI-ASSISTED · FROM GRADED PUBLIC SOURCES

Tempus Fugit Spirits is a US revival house (Novato, California Bay Area; precise founding year unconfirmed, press places it in the early 2000s) known for recreating historic 19th and early-20th-century absinthes, bitters and liqueurs using pre-Prohibition protocols. Rather than distilling everything in-house, the company sources or contracts European production for several lines under historic recipes and licences. Of its Bitters & Amari range, two products meet the Atlas amaro definition: Gran Classico Bitter, a 28% ABV Turin-recipe apéritif bitter macerated from 25 herbs and roots, and Fernet Del Frate, a 44% ABV Swiss-made amarissimo fernet built on a recipe purchased in 1930.

AI-collated from the graded sources below; operator review pending. Founding year and city were corrected during adversarial verification — see editorialNote.

ZONE 03 — PRODUCER-SUBMITTED NOTES

This record is unclaimed. This space opens to the producer when they claim it. Producer claiming is coming soon.

PRODUCTS ON RECORD

Gran Classico Bitter

28% ABV · 750ML

BOTTLE IMAGE
ADDED BY THE PRODUCER

SUBCATEGORY bitterRING coreTRADITION World amaroSELF-IDENTIFIED “Italian bitter apéritif liqueur”

A revival of an 1860s Turin bitter apéritif recipe, later produced by Swiss distillery E. Luginbühl from 1925. Macerated from 25 aromatic herbs and roots, it shows a naturally developed golden-amber colour with no added colouring and a layered, alternating sweet-bitter finish. Positioned as a non-red modifier bitter for classic cocktails such as the Negroni.

BOTANICAL MATRIX — 5 GRADED EDGES

  • Wormwood · bitteringA·3
  • Gentian · bittering rootA·3
  • Bitter orange peel · citrus/aromaticA·3
  • Rhubarb · bittering/sweetnessA·3
  • Hyssop · aromatic herbA·3

DESCRIPTORS

  • Bitter-sweet ▮▮▮▮▮A·3
  • Orange peel ▮▮▮▮▮A·3
  • Resiny ▮▮▮▮▮A·3
  • Vanilla ▮▮▮▮▮A·3

Fernet Del Frate

44% ABV · 750ML

BOTTLE IMAGE
ADDED BY THE PRODUCER

SUBCATEGORY fernetRING coreTRADITION World amaroSELF-IDENTIFIED “Italian amaro classification (amarissimo fernet)”

A micro-batch fernet made at Matter Distillery in Switzerland, following a historic recipe purchased in 1930 from a long-closed Italian distillery; a recent discovery attributes the original formulation to a monk referred to as Frate Angelico Fernet, though this attribution is not independently confirmed. Deep, almost-black in colour from natural saffron with no added colouring, extremely bitter (amarissimo) and traditionally positioned as a medicinal-style tonic. Bitter opening gives way to balanced mint and menthol before a dry, bitter finish.

BOTANICAL MATRIX — 8 GRADED EDGES

  • Aloe · bitteringA·4
  • Saffron · colour/aromaticA·4
  • Quinquina (cinchona) · bitteringA·4
  • Gentian · bittering rootA·4
  • Anise · aromaticA·4
  • Angelica · aromatic rootA·4
  • Mint · cooling/balanceA·4
  • Myrrh · resinous/medicinalA·4

DESCRIPTORS

  • Amarissimo (extremely bitter) ▮▮▮▮▮A·4
  • Menthol ▮▮▮▮▮A·4
  • Saffron ▮▮▮▮▮A·4
  • Dry finish ▮▮▮▮▮A·4

SERVES

Negroni (Gran Classico variation)

canonical
  • · 1 part Gran Classico Bitter
  • · 1 part gin
  • · 1 part sweet vermouth

Stir with ice, strain into rocks glass over fresh ice, garnish with orange peel

Gran Classico Bitter on ice or with soda

producer
  • · Gran Classico Bitter
  • · Ice
  • · Seltzer water (optional)

Serve neat over ice, or lengthen with seltzer waterA·3

Toronto

canonical
  • · 2 parts rye whiskey
  • · 1 dash Fernet Del Frate
  • · 1 barspoon simple syrup
  • · Angostura bitters

Stir with ice, strain into a chilled coupe, garnish with an orange twist

ZONE 04 — COMMUNITY TASTING NOTES

RESERVED — community notes open in V2 with moderation and bias handling. The contributions ledger is already recording.

ZONE 05 — ASTERLEY EDITORIAL NOTE

Classified world-amaro / north-america on operating-company grounds: Tempus Fugit is a US-headquartered importer-revivalist, even though Gran Classico Bitter and Fernet Del Frate trace to Italian/Swiss recipes and are produced under contract in Switzerland. CORRECTIONS from the drafted record, made during adversarial re-verification against live producer and press sources on 2026-07-05: (1) founding year '2007' was unsupported fabrication — the about page uses 2007 only as the year US absinthe was re-legalised, not a founding date; no source gives an exact founding year, grade-B press says 'early 2000s'; evidenceGrade and city/lat-lon corrected accordingly. (2) City corrected from a fabricated 'San Francisco' (with San Francisco's own coordinates) to the only verified address, Novato, CA, in the Bay Area. (3) Two serves (an equal-parts Negroni ratio, and a named 'Gran Classico Bitter and Soda' product) had specs invented and falsely attributed to the producer source, which does not contain them; reclassified as canonical/generic and corrected to match verbatim source text. (4) The Toronto cocktail spec was invented wholesale and falsely attributed to the Fernet Del Frate product page, which names the cocktail but gives no recipe; reclassified as canonical with the standard published proportions and the false producer sourceId removed. (5) Fernet Del Frate's monk-attribution history was overstated as settled fact; the producer's own framing calls it a 'recent discovery', not confirmed history. (6) The category-page source URL 404s and was replaced with a working, independently-verified /products/ URL carrying the same 18-SKU list, which confirms no 'Alpino' SKU exists. Abbott's Aromatic Bitters (non-potable dashing bitters) and the Alessio vermouth/chinato line (wine-based) remain hard-excluded per spec. Kina l'Aéro d'Or remains excluded pending further confirmation of its base (reads as a quinquina/aromatised-wine aperitif).

COMMON QUESTIONS

Where is Tempus Fugit Spirits made?
Tempus Fugit Spirits is made in Novato, United States.
What style of amaro is Tempus Fugit Spirits?
On The Amaro Atlas, Gran Classico Bitter is recorded in the core ring, bitter subcategory, within the World amaro tradition. The producer describes it as "Italian bitter apéritif liqueur".

SOURCES — A–D GRADED (8)

  1. [1]ATempus Fugit Spirits — Homepage · Tempus Fugit Spirits · producer-official · accessed 2026-07-05
  2. [2]ATempus Fugit Spirits — About Us · Tempus Fugit Spirits · producer-official · accessed 2026-07-05Confirms Novato CA address (P.O. Box 658, Novato, CA 94948). Does NOT state a founding year; 2007 mentioned only as the year US absinthe was re-legalised, the context in which founders began operating as an independent importer. Founders previously built Vieux Pontarlier Absinthe and 25+ European absinthe brands since 2001.
  3. [3]AGran Classico Bitter — product page · Tempus Fugit Spirits · producer-official · accessed 2026-07-05ABV, botanicals, tasting notes, 1860s Turin recipe / E. Luginbuhl Swiss production history. No exact Negroni ratio or named 'and Soda' product given on this page; served 'on ice or with seltzer water' per verbatim text.
  4. [4]AFernet Del Frate — product page · Tempus Fugit Spirits · producer-official · accessed 2026-07-05ABV, botanicals, tasting notes, Matter Distillery Switzerland production, recipe purchased 1930 from a closed Italian distillery. Names 'Toronto' and 'Employees Only' cocktails with no recipe/spec given on this page.
  5. [5]ATempus Fugit Spirits — full product range · Tempus Fugit Spirits · producer-official · accessed 2026-07-05Independently re-verified working URL (the draft's /category/products/bitters-amari/ URL 404s). Full 18-SKU range across four categories confirms no 'Alpino' product exists; only Gran Classico Bitter and Fernet Del Frate in the 'Liqueurs & Amaros' category conform to the Atlas amaro spec, the rest are creme liqueurs.
  6. [6]BTempus Fugit Spirits — Producer profile · Berry Bros & Rudd · press · accessed 2026-07-05States founded by John Troia and Peter Schaf 'in the early 2000s' — contradicts the draft's unsourced 2007 founding claim; no exact year or city given.
  7. [7]BLevecke to distribute Tempus Fugit Spirits in US · The Spirits Business · press · accessed 2026-07-05URL returned 403 on re-fetch attempt; retained as a citation pending future re-access, not relied upon for any fact in this record.
  8. [8]BTempus Fugit Spirits — Distillery page · Master of Malt · database · accessed 2026-07-05URL returned 429 on re-fetch attempt; retained as a citation pending future re-access, not relied upon for any fact in this record.

A producer-official / regulatory · B reputable published · C secondary · D community/unverified