7 Great Fernets That Aren't Fernet Branca
Fernet Branca
Bitter, herbal, and incredibly, almost astringently dry, Fernet Branca represents a category of amari that only the strongest among us can love. It has a powerful eucalyptus flavor underscored by an unmistakably medicinal punch. It contains cinchona, rhubarb, camomile, cinnamon, linden, iris, saffron, zedoary, galangal and myrrh. Launched in Milan in 1845 by the Branca family as a digestive tonic and cure for a broad variety of ailments, Fernet achieved great popularity in Argentina, where it is mixed with Coke, and as a bartender’s handshake industry shot, especially in San Francisco, or as an ingredient in cocktails like the Hanky Panky and the Toronto. Since it was considered a medicine, it was available during Prohibition.
At my local bar, regulars drink the Ferrari, a one-to-one shot composed of Fernet Branca and Campari, called out in a portmanteau of its ingredients that are poured, preferably simultaneously, into a shot glass and thrown back at room temp. Syrupy and extra bitter, the signature shot soothes the stomach and revs the engine like its namesake.
The Core Botanicals
We asked Patrick Miller, owner and distiller of Brooklyn’s Faccia Bruto Spirits maker of Fernet Pianta, for a definition of Fernet. “There tend to be a couple things that all fernets usually have or are characterized by, which is odd because, just like the category of amari in general, Italy’s the wild west.”
Italy has always been big on regional ingredients, and its spirits are no exception. “Amaro tends to be a reflection of the place,” he says, naming aloe ferox, myrrh, chamomile, mint and saffron as the five core fernet botanicals.
Amy Stewart, in her book the Drunken Botanist, also cites aloe as “one of the ingredients that give Fernet-style amaro …their bracing quality.” As for myrrh, she says, “The makers of Fernet Branca do not bother to hide the fact that it is among their secret ingredients; the powerful and ancient flavor of myrrh helps explain why fernet packs such a punch.”
How Fernet is Made
Fred Jerbis Fernet25
Fernet is an amaro. It is usually made with a base of distilled grape spirits, but not always. David Curiel, National Spirits Manager for Oliver McCrum Wines and Spirits, distributes many Italian spirits including Fred Jerbis Fernet25, a rare Italian take on the sacred category, made with 25 botanicals in Friuli. He told us about their early process. “We had a lot of conversations about what makes a fernet a fernet. Like so many Italian things, no one really seems to know.… [Ours is] a delicate interpretation of the category, with lower ABV, aged in small chestnut barrels. Like all of Fred’s spirits, this is made with a combination of ingredients that are wild foraged in the Alps as well as some ingredients grown in his backyard. The saffron comes from a neighbor down the road named Walter.”
He also gave a unique interpretation of the name. “We speculate that ‘Fernet’ means to clean steel. [The prefix] Fer- is steel and -net means clean. It was a spirit that could clean metal!”
6 American Fernets
Spurred by the growth of the amaro category and the niche popularity of Fernet Branca, several US spirits producers have created their own alternative versions.
1. Fernet Pianta
Faccia Bruto’s Fernet Pianta
Fernets tend to hold steady at a high ABV of 40%. Faccia Bruto’s elegant Bed-Stuy made Fernet Pianta is lower in sugar, organic, non GMO, and clocks a 35% ABV, yet stands up in bitterness and depth of flavor to the original. It is made with 21 ingredients including saffron, myrrh, aloe ferox, peppermint, and gentian root and colored with chicory root.
American Fifth Fernet
American Fifth Spirits out of Lansing, Michigan offers a bracingly herbal fernet that comes close to mimicking the deep cola flavors of the OG. It is made with 17 botanicals, herbs, and spices. It is equally at home served in cocktails or on the rocks.
Letherbee Fernet
The fernet from Chicago’s Letherbee Distillers comes up often in conversation with spirits experts, thanks to its rich texture and balanced botanicals. Letherbee Distillers describes it as “a freshly refined take on the signature digestif.” It includes saffron, rhubarb root, myrrh gum, spearmint, and eucalyptus and Letherbee recommends shooting it, sipping it, drinking it after a meal, adding it to coffee, or mixing it in a cocktail.
Rhine Hall Distillery’s Fernet Lola
Also in Chicago, Rhine Hall Distillery uses the fruit brandy they are known for as a base for their complex Fernet Lola, which was originally developed for a South American restaurant. It was first released in 2017 and is a fruit brandy based fernet infused with 14 different herbs, botanicals, and spices with South America influences. Unlike many other fernets which are made with neutral grain or beet distillates, Fernet Lola highlights the Landy method of fernet making from Italy, using regional brandy as a base.
Don Ciccio e Figli's Amaro Don Fernet
Prolific Washington DC amaro and aperitivo producer Don Ciccio e Figli makes French Oak barrel aged Amaro Don Fernet which earns its rightful place at the highest end of their “bitterness barometer.” Barrel-aged for 12 months in 250-liter French oak barrels from the Marisa Cuomo Winery in Italy. It is an infusion of 25 roots and herbs with the flavors of fresh mint, dark chocolate, ginger and saffron. No glycerin or menthol is used.
Fernet Fungo
Less traditional but certainly worth mention, Hammond, Indiana’s 18th Street Distillery adds dried shiitake mushrooms to the maceration when creating their off-beat but aptly named Fernet Fungo, lending a savory, umami whoosh to the spiced, bitter brew developed in collaboration with a hot sauce company, Chicago’s Sauce and Bread Kitchen. The fernet uses “Midwest wood-grown donko shiitake mushrooms to impart earthy umami undertones, which provides a base for whole citrus and a unique blend of 15 herbs and spices inspired by Co-Op’s location near the famed Devon Avenue Corridor, one of the most diverse streets in the country.”
The future of fernet
Fernet and other classic amaro lovers can look forward to more fernet innovation as the popularity of the sub-category continues to surge. Says Miller, “Italy’s been making and drinking these liqueurs for hundreds of years. We are all just discovering them and throwing our hat in the ring, saying, ‘Hey, this is what I think the world needs.’”