Cocktails with Fernet-Branca
Fernet-Branca is an intensely bitter Italian amaro with menthol and herbal flavors. Beloved by bartenders as a digestif and increasingly in cocktails.
No Fernet-Branca? What to use instead
- Type
- Liqueur
- Strength
- 39–43% ABV
- Aroma
- Menthol, Herbs, Bitter, Eucalyptus, Earthy
- Taste
- Intensely bitter, Menthol, Herbal, Medicinal
- Finish
- Long, Bitter, Cooling, Cleansing
8 drinks with Fernet-Branca
- Eeyore's RequiemCampari, Bianco Vermouth, Gin
- FanciulliBourbon, Sweet Vermouth
- FernanditoCola
- Hanky PankyGin, Sweet Vermouth
- Industry SourGreen Chartreuse, Lime Juice, Simple Syrup
- Midnight StingerBourbon, White Crème de Menthe
- NewarkApple Brandy, Sweet Vermouth, Maraschino Liqueur
- TorontoRye Whiskey, Simple Syrup, Angostura Bitters
History
Created in Milan in 1845 by Bernardino Branca as a medicinal tonic. Fernet survived Prohibition as 'medicine' and became Argentina's national drink. It's now a bartender's handshake—ordering it signals industry membership.
How it’s made
Made from 27 herbs and spices including myrrh, chamomile, saffron, and iris root, macerated in grape spirit and aged in oak. The intense bitterness comes from gentian and other bittering agents. Each generation of Brancas knows the complete recipe.
Bottles to try
Fernet-BrancaMid-range
The original intensely bitter Italian amaro. Bartender favorite.
Luxardo FernetMid-range
Italian fernet from the maraschino house, bitter and minty but a little softer than Branca.
Got Fernet-Branca at home?
Add it to your bar in Proof and see every drink you can make with the bottles you already have.