Joey and Gillian Diedrick are the kind of people you meet and instantly think: They are so cool, how can we be friends? Longtime staples in the Seattle hospitality industry, at establishments including Eden Hill and Grappa, the Diedricks are smart, funny, super knowledgeable about cocktail history and culture—and they produce, SennzaFinne, a small-batch amaro that I’m willing to bet will win over anyone who claims to not like amaro.
“We were working across the street from each other up on Queen Anne,” Joey recalls of the brand’s beginnings. “It was about three years before the pandemic, and we were experimenting with making stuff like tinctures and bitters for our bar programs.”
Around that time, the couple took a trip to the Washington Coast, where they started to reflect on the toll of two decades of bartending (late nights, lots of repetitive physical motion, unconventional working hours), and what might be next in their careers. Returning home, “we looked around our house, and it was full of all of these ingredients and infusions,” Joey says. A light bulb went off—if they could create these ingredients for a few restaurants around town, why not scale up? “We just needed to figure out what to focus on.”
SennzaFinne’s tasting room—located in the back of an industrial warehouse in Interbay—is a jewel-box space filled with vintage tableware and collected art. It’s reminiscent of the type of neighborhood bar you’d find in Europe.
Photo by Sarah Flotard
Amaro has a special place in the Diedricks love story. The couple got engaged in Italy, and, according to Gillian, spent part of the trip “sampling every amaro under the sun.” In Florence, they hopped between streetside cafés and small, crowded bars, tasting every new-to-them amaro they could find.
Ask why they decided to create their own stateside brand, and Gillian’s answer starts direct, before heading into a more poetic flow. “One, amaro is close to our hearts,” she says, “and two, it doesn’t have any rules. We also like its history and the origin of using whatever is around you to make it. That really appealed to us. We thought, let’s celebrate the Pacific Northwest by using ingredients that highlight moments in time throughout the year.”
SennzaFinne (Senza Fine means “endless” in Italian) officially launched in 2019, with the opening of its tasting room following five years later. Located in a slightly-tricky-to-find spot in Interbay, the two-year-old headquarters feels like a discovered secret—cozy lightning, vintage glassware, great music, and small bar that will put you elbow-to-elbow with fellow sippers, and face-to-face with Gillian and Joey. This might sound like an introvert’s worst nightmare, but if you’re like me and love to chat, you will appreciate the low-key vibe, and the way conversation unfurls naturally—especially after a cocktail or two.
SennzaFinne founders and longtime Seattle bartenders Joey and Gillian Diedrick have a passion for making amaro, a spirit they chased around Italy shortly after getting engaged.
Photo by Sarah Flotard
In basic terms, amaro is a liqueur made by infusing distilled spirits (Joey and Gillian use one made from a base of pure, neutral grain) with herbs, roots, bark, nuts, spices, or other natural ingredients. SennzaFinne offers five flavor profiles, packaged in bottles featuring gorgeous labels that evoke hand-drawn Victorian apothecary books. Each amaro has a distinct flavor: No.1–Grassy Eden is bright and botanic with a hint of Cascade hops; Amaro No.4–Rustling Wood is smokey and nutty with a comforting spiced finish like a wool blanket in wintertime. To me, the most unique offering is Amaro No.3–Last Leaf, which the brand calls “a celebration of the forest floor.” Notes of mushroom in this liqueur give it a unique umami essence I wouldn’t have associated with amaro.
“When we were first researching ingredients, our approach was very much form a culinary standpoint,” Joey explains, “but then we started researching a lot of traditional, medicinal, and indigenous plant life. It wasn’t that we were strictly only going to use local ingredients, but the standout stars are going to be things that express this place.”
The Diedricks passion for their craft is obvious at every point in the amaro-making process, from sourcing ingredients to creating cocktails with the finished product. During my visit, I sampled an amaro flight and sipped on three cocktails they prepared to show me the liqueur’s versatility. Despite my initial beliefs that it was more of a “winter” spirit (my friends and I have been known to bring a nip of amaro on the chairlift while skiing), Gillian and Joey shook up some refreshing summer libations, each using a different amaro, including one that tasted exactly like a nostalgic root beer float. Below is the recipe for an elevated citrusy spritz made using Amaro No.2–Golden Hour—it’s best enjoyed on a hot day with good friends and conversations that go down with the sunset.
The Diedricks with the full lineup of award-winning SennzaFinne amaro.
Photo by Andrew Pogue
SennzaFinne is located at 3401 W Thorndyke Ave, Suite 119, Seattle, WA 98119; Opening Hours: Thursdays and Fridays, 5-7 p.m.
Early Summer Rain
INGREDIENTS:
- 1.5 oz – Tahoma Fuji Sake
- 1.0 oz – Golden Hour Amaro
- Pressed Mint
- Splash – Prosecco
- Garnish – Mint
- Old Fashioned Glass
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Muddle the fresh mint gently in the bottom of a shaker.
- Add the saké and Amaro No. 2: Golden Hour with ice.
- Shake well and strain over fresh ice into a glass.
- Top off with a splash of Prosecco.
- Garnish with a fresh mint bouquet.
