Fernet Branca - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Fernet is a type of amaro

Amaro (drink)

Amaro is a variety of Italian herbal liqueur, commonly drunk as an after-dinner digestif. It is usually bitter and sweet, sometimes syrupy, usually with an alcohol content between 16% and 35%...

, a bitter

Bitters

A bitters is an alcoholic beverage that is flavored with herbal essences and has a bitter or bittersweet flavor. There are numerous brands of bitters that were formerly marketed as patent medicines but are now considered to be digestifs, rather than medicines...

, aromatic spirit

Distilled beverage

A distilled beverage, liquor, or spirit is an alcoholic beverage containing ethanol that is produced by distilling ethanol produced by means of fermenting grain, fruit, or vegetables...

. Fernet is made from a number of herbs and spices which vary according to the brand

Brand

The American Marketing Association defines a brand as a "Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers."...

, but usually include myrrh

Myrrh

Myrrh is the aromatic oleoresin of a number of small, thorny tree species of the genus Commiphora, which grow in dry, stony soil. An oleoresin is a natural blend of an essential oil and a resin. Myrrh resin is a natural gum....

, rhubarb

Rhubarb

Rhubarb is a group of plants that belong to the genus Rheum in the family Polygonaceae. They are herbaceous perennial plants growing from short, thick rhizomes. They have large leaves that are somewhat triangular-shaped with long fleshy petioles...

, chamomile

Chamomile

Chamomile or camomile is a common name for several daisy-like plants of the family Asteraceae. These plants are best known for their ability to be made into an infusion which is commonly used to help with sleep and is often served with either honey or lemon. Because chamomile can cause uterine...

, cardamom

Cardamom

Cardamom refers to several plants of the genera Elettaria and Amomum in the ginger family Zingiberaceae. Both genera are native to India and Bhutan; they are recognised by their small seed pod, triangular in cross-section and spindle-shaped, with a thin papery outer shell and small black seeds...

, aloe

Aloe

Aloe , also Aloë, is a genus containing about 500 species of flowering succulent plants. The most common and well known of these is Aloe vera, or "true aloe"....

, and especially saffron

Saffron

Saffron is a spice derived from the flower of Crocus sativus, commonly known as the saffron crocus. Crocus is a genus in the family Iridaceae. Each saffron crocus grows to and bears up to four flowers, each with three vivid crimson stigmas, which are each the distal end of a carpel...

, with a base of grape

Grape

A grape is a non-climacteric fruit, specifically a berry, that grows on the perennial and deciduous woody vines of the genus Vitis. Grapes can be eaten raw or they can be used for making jam, juice, jelly, vinegar, wine, grape seed extracts, raisins, molasses and grape seed oil. Grapes are also...

distilled spirits, and coloured with caramel colouring. Ingredients rumored to be in fernet include codeine

Codeine

Codeine or 3-methylmorphine is an opiate used for its analgesic, antitussive, and antidiarrheal properties...

, mushroom

Mushroom

A mushroom is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or on its food source. The standard for the name "mushroom" is the cultivated white button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus; hence the word "mushroom" is most often applied to those fungi that...

s, fermented beet

Beet

The beet is a plant in the Chenopodiaceae family which is now included in Amaranthaceae family. It is best known in its numerous cultivated varieties, the most well known of which is the purple root vegetable known as the beetroot or garden beet...

s, coca leaf, gentian

Gentian

Gentiana is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the Gentian family , tribe Gentianeae and monophyletic subtribe Gentianinae. With about 400 species, it is considered a large genus.-Habitat:...

, rhubarb

Rhubarb

, wormwood

Wormwood

Wormwood may refer to:*Various plants of the genus Artemisia but commonly Artemisia absinthium, also called grande wormwood or absinthe wormwood...

, zedoary

Zedoary

Zedoary is the name for a perennial herb and member of the genus Curcuma Linn., family Zingiberaceae. The plant is native to India and Indonesia...

, cinchona

Cinchona

Cinchona or Quina is a genus of about 38 species in the family Rubiaceae, native to tropical South America. They are large shrubs or small trees growing 5–15 metres in height with evergreen foliage. The leaves are opposite, rounded to lanceolate and 10–40 cm long. The flowers are white, pink...

, bay leaves

Bay leaf

Bay leaf refers to the aromatic leaf of the bay laurel . Fresh or dried bay leaves are used in cooking for their distinctive flavor and fragrance. The leaves are often used to flavor soups, stews, braises and pâtés in Mediterranean cuisine...

, absinthe

Absinthe

Absinthe is historically described as a distilled, highly alcoholic beverage. It is an anise-flavoured spirit derived from herbs, including the flowers and leaves of the herb Artemisia absinthium, commonly referred to as "grande wormwood", together with green anise and sweet fennel...

, orange peel

Orange Peel

Orange Peel may refer to:*Orange Peel , an event held at Oklahoma State University*Orange Peel , a thoroughbred stallion*Orange Peel , a concert venue in Asheville, NC...

, calumba, echinacea

Echinacea

Echinacea is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants in the daisy family, Asteraceae. The nine species it contains are commonly called purple coneflowers. They are endemic to eastern and central North America, where they are found growing in moist to dry prairies and open wooded areas. They have...

, quinine

Quinine

Quinine is a natural white crystalline alkaloid having antipyretic , antimalarial, analgesic , anti-inflammatory properties and a bitter taste. It is a stereoisomer of quinidine which, unlike quinine, is an anti-arrhythmic...

, ginseng

Ginseng

Ginseng is any one of eleven species of slow-growing perennial plants with fleshy roots, belonging to the genus Panax of the family Araliaceae....

, St. John's wort, sage, and peppermint oil.

Fernet is usually served as a digestif after a meal but may also be served with coffee

Coffee

Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...

and espresso

Espresso

Espresso is a concentrated beverage brewed by forcing a small amount of nearly boiling water under pressure through finely ground coffee. Espresso is widely known throughout the world....

or mixed into coffee and espresso drinks. In Argentina it is commonly mixed with Coca Cola. It typically contains 45% alcohol

Alcohol

In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....

by volume. It may be served at room temperature or on the rocks

Ice cube

Ice cubes are small, roughly cube-shaped pieces of ice, conventionally used to cool beverages. Ice cubes are often preferred over crushed ice because they melt more slowly; they are standard in mixed drinks that call for ice, in which case the drink is said to be "on the rocks."Ice cubes are...

(with ice). A mint

Mentha

Mentha is a genus of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae . The species are not clearly distinct and estimates of the number of species varies from 13 to 18. Hybridization between some of the species occurs naturally...

-flavoured version of fernet is also available.

Because of its list of ingredients, a number of home remedies

Home remedy

A home remedy is a treatment to cure a disease or ailment that employs certain spices, vegetables, or other common items. Home remedies may or may not have medicinal properties that treat or cure the disease or ailment in question, as they are typically passed along by laypersons...

call for fernet, including for the treatment of menstrual and gastrointestinal discomfort

Abdominal pain

Abdominal pain can be one of the symptoms associated with transient disorders or serious disease. Making a definitive diagnosis of the cause of abdominal pain can be difficult, because many diseases can result in this symptom. Abdominal pain is a common problem...

, hangover

Hangover

A hangover describes the sum of unpleasant physiological effects following heavy consumption of alcoholic beverages. The most commonly reported characteristics of a hangover include headache, nausea, sensitivity to light and noise, lethargy, dysphoria, diarrhea and thirst, typically after the...

s, baby colic

Baby colic

Colic is a condition in which an otherwise healthy baby cries or displays symptoms of distress frequently and for extended periods, without any discernible reason...

, and (formerly) cholera

Cholera

Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...

.

Its smell has been described as "like black licorice-flavored Listerine."

Popularity

Popular in Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

, it is often taken as a national beverage. The production in this country is around 25 million litres, 35% sold in Buenos Aires province

Buenos Aires Province

The Province of Buenos Aires is the largest and most populous province of Argentina. It takes the name from the city of Buenos Aires, which used to be the provincial capital until it was federalized in 1880...

and Federal District and 30% in Córdoba province

Córdoba Province (Argentina)

Córdoba is a province of Argentina, located in the center of the country. Neighboring provinces are : Santiago del Estero, Santa Fe, Buenos Aires, La Pampa, San Luis, La Rioja and Catamarca...

(with a population of 3 million people). It is commonly mixed with cola

Cola

Cola is a carbonated beverage that was typically flavored by the kola nut as well as vanilla and other flavorings, however, some colas are now flavored artificially. It became popular worldwide after druggist John Pemberton invented Coca-Cola in 1886...

(usually 1 part fernet, 10 parts cola), but it is also drunk with soda water (in an "old fashioned way"), or even pure. This popular variety of fernet is not the same as the fernet sold by the Czech distillery R. Jelínek which features a more cinnamon flavor.

The drink has been popular in the San Francisco Bay Area

San Francisco Bay Area

The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...

since before Prohibition

Prohibition

Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...

; and as of 2008, San Francisco accounted for 25% of US consumption. San Francisco bars usually serve fernet as a shot followed by a ginger ale

Ginger ale

Ginger ale is a carbonated soft drink flavored with ginger. Dr. Thomas Cantrell, an American apothecary and surgeon, claimed to have invented ginger ale and marketed it with beverage manufacturer Grattan and Company. Grattan embossed the slogan "The Original Makers of Ginger Ale" on its bottles...

chaser

Chaser

Chaser may refer to:* Chaser , a 2003 sci-fi first person shooter video game* The Chaser, an Australian comedy group* The Chaser , a South Korean film* "The Chaser" , an episode of The Twilight Zone...

and calling it "taking the train to Fernal Heights".

Fernet gained additional visibility when it was reported to be the favorite drink of 2007 U.S. Open

U.S. Open (golf)

The United States Open Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Open, is the annual open golf tournament of the United States. It is the second of the four major championships in golf, and is on the official schedule of both the PGA Tour and the European Tour...

winner Ángel Cabrera

Angel Cabrera

Ángel Cabrera is an Argentine professional golfer who plays on both the European Tour and PGA Tour. He is known affectionately as "El Pato" in Spanish or in English as "The duck" for his waddling gait. He is a former U.S. Open champion and Masters champion. He is the first Argentine to win either...

.

The experience of drinking fernet has been described as:

Cocktails

Fernet can be mixed into cocktails, though the strong taste can overwhelm other ingredients. It can replace bitters

Bitters

in recipes; for instance, the Fanciulli cocktail is a Manhattan

Manhattan (cocktail)

A Manhattan is a cocktail made with whiskey, sweet vermouth, and bitters. Commonly used whiskeys include rye , Canadian whisky , bourbon, blended whiskey and Tennessee whiskey. The cocktail is often stirred with ice and strained into a cocktail glass, where it is garnished with a Maraschino cherry...

with fernet instead of Angostura bitters

Angostura bitters

Angostura bitters, often simply referred to as angostura, is a concentrated bitters made of water, 44.7% alcohol, gentian root, and vegetable flavoring extracts by House of Angostura in Trinidad and Tobago. They are typically used for flavoring beverages, or food...

.
The Toronto is another take on the Manhattan

Manhattan (cocktail)

, and is made with whiskey, fernet, and bitters

Angostura bitters

.

The chef Fergus Henderson

Fergus Henderson

Fergus Henderson is an English chef who founded the St John restaurant in St John St, London. He is often noted for his use of offal and other neglected cuts of meat as a consequence of his philosophy of Nose To Tail Eating. Following in the footsteps of his parents, Brian and Elizabeth...

offers a recipe, entitled both "A Miracle" and "Dr. Henderson" that approximates Brancamenta by combining two parts fernet with one part crème de menthe

Crème de menthe

Crème de menthe is a sweet, mint-flavored alcoholic beverage. Its flavor is primarily derived from Corsican mint. It is available commercially in a colorless and a green version...

over ice. The recipe states that this cocktail can be used as a cure for overindulgence.

Popularity

Cocktails

See also