Fernet-Branca is an intensely bitter, near-black Italian amaro — the most famous example of the fernet style — first made in Milan in 1845 by Bernardino Branca and still produced by his family firm, Fratelli Branca. It is built by macerating a secret blend of about 27 herbs, roots, barks and spices — among them gentian, Chinese rhubarb, myrrh, chamomile, saffron and aloe — in a grape-spirit base, then ageing the extract in oak. Bottled at 39% ABV and barely sweetened, it is bracingly bitter, medicinal and cooling, with a menthol finish that divides drinkers sharply. Traditionally taken neat as a post-meal digestivo, it has become the "bartender's handshake" behind the bar and, above all, the national drink of Argentina, where it is drunk long over ice with cola as "Fernet con Coca."
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