THE DRINK
ITALIAN SPECIALITY AND ARGENTINIAN OBSESSION, FERNET-BRANCA IS THE BARTENDERS’ CHOICE. WORDS: THE THINKING DRINKERS
After the Aperol spritz and the negroni, what other ‘cool’ Italian drink we should be ordering?
Well, ask any bartender worth their rim salt and they’ll say fernet — aseriously bitter type of grapebased Italian amaro, made with a myriad of herbs and spices, aged in oak and reputedly great at curing hangovers. And while Italy boasts a number of well-regarded fernets, such as Luxardo, Martini and Nardini, there are also Eastern European alternatives and a number of ‘new world’ versions, via the micro-distilling scene in the US.
So, where should I start?
The most famous fernet is Fernet-Branca, a drink that has cult status among career cocktailslingers. It’s the drink most often associated with the ‘bartender’s handshake’ — the name given to the free shot that bartenders traditionally offer their fellow professionals. It even boasts its own ‘currency’ — branded coins slammed down by bartenders on bar tops as proof of their trade.
If bartenders like it, it must be nice?
Well... Fernet-Branca is an acquired taste. The first sip feels like the 30-odd herbs and spices are having a giant brawl in your mouth. It’s blisteringly bitter, fiercely medicinal and totally menthol.
You’re not selling it to me.
Come on, persevere. Like a truly epic album or a classic novel, its greatness doesn’t reveal itself immediately. Besides, some say it’s good for you, and that it aids digestion.
Does anyone drink it for fun?
Yes, millions of Argentinians. Three-quarters of all the Fernet-Branca consumed globally is drunk in Argentina, where Fernet with Coca-Cola (‘fernet con coca’) is hailed as the
