Fernet Branca is out of Milan, Italy. They make this bitters since 1845. They still exist as of 2026. It was once marketed as a cure for various ailments, and contained opiates, as did quite a lot back then. The opiates were later removed so it could be legally sold into the US market. Today it is used as a mixer for alcoholic drinks, or in some places, mixed with Coca Cola to drink, with Argentina single-handedly consuming 75% of the production in this manner, by some estimates.
Other examples below.
Fun story; I worked as a bartender a long time ago, and on the shelf behind the counter were a bottle of Fernet Branca, 2/3 full.
I knew the brand because Carmen Cru (translated: Carmen Raw) a fantastic horrible old lady in a french comic drinks it. She’s like 95 and Fernet Branca is 80 proof.
No one ever asked for it, and one day me and my coworker decided to see what the heck this black stuff was.
Turns out it was delicious! Minty sort of, incredible finesse, like I have truly never tasted something like it (and in a very good way), so much aroma.
We put the bottle back, but from time to time we had a little glass of it. Because man, it was so good.
One day it was empty, so I just put it in the recycling bin and went down the cave in the search for a replacement, that I found and put up in the shelf.
The next time it was time for a little Fernet-Branca though, it was the vilest most bitter horror you can imagine! Completely undrinkable! My saliv glands just went into overdrive, no way this is edible even, like bitter diesel.
Turns out the old bottle had been there, macerating for the better half of a century, boss bought the bar with the bottle already there…
Tchin-Tchin à Toulouse, si tu nous regarde :-) as we used to say.
I’ve never tasted it, but now I want to try some that’s been sitting around for 50 years or so.
The replacement bottle looked like the bottle of the secont poster, of that I’m quite sure (but with a screw cork), the older was maybe looking like the one on the first poster, but I’m less sure, I had already thrown away the empy old one a while back when it dawned on us that it was a little treasure, but IIRC it was somehow in the same vein. It sure had a screw cork.
I mean if you go Fernet Branca hunting 😁
Ah, yes, can confirm about Argentina, been to more than one party with Fernet & Coke (two is technically more than one, right?).
Devendra gives a shout out to the drink in Carmensita:
Ah yes the bartender’s handshake, the gentleman’s Jagermiester.
Love it. I’ll share my house cocktail with you. Fernet : Cointreau:fresh lime juice 1:1.5:0.75, kiss of warmed honey with cinnamon (non cassia) mixed in, stir with a cinnamon stick with much ice.
First sip or two might weird you out, damned if you don’t come back for more though.
Ferrari: 1 bottle frenet to 1 bottle campari. Mix both bottles, store it in the freezer ideally in a glass 1.5L bottle or pour it back into the 750mL bottles after mixing.
fernet con coca is good, fernet con tonica is great! (tonic water)
