View source for Fernet

{{Short description|Type of amaro, a bitter, aromatic spirit}}

[[File:Ferneses.jpg|thumb|Several brands of fernet sold in Argentina. From left to right: [[Cinzano]], [[Girolamo Luxardo|Luxardo]], [[Ramazzotti (liqueur)|Ramazzotti]], 1882, [[Fernet-Branca]] and [[Martini (vermouth)|Martini]].]]
'''Fernet''' ({{IPA-it|ferˈnɛt|lang}}) is an Italian type of ''[[Amaro (liqueur)|amaro]]'', a [[bitters|bitter]], aromatic [[Liquor|spirit]]. Fernet is made from a number of herbs and spices which vary according to the brand, but usually include [[myrrh]], [[rhubarb]], [[chamomile]], [[cardamom]], [[aloe]], and especially [[saffron]],<ref name="sfweekly">{{Cite news |last=Cavalieri |first=Nate |date=2005-12-07 |title=The Myth of Fernet |work=[[SF Weekly]] |url=http://www.sfweekly.com/sanfrancisco/the-myth-of-fernet/Content?oid=2158526 |url-status=live |access-date=2020-06-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070221223603/http://www.sfweekly.com/2005-12-07/news/the-myth-of-fernet/full |archive-date=21 February 2007}}</ref> with a base of distilled [[grape]] spirits.

Fernet is usually served as a [[Apéritif and digestif|digestif]] after a meal but may also be served with [[coffee]] and [[espresso]] or mixed into coffee and espresso drinks. It typically contains 45% [[Alcohol by volume|alc/vol]]. It may be served at room temperature or with ice.

The Italian liqueur has a [[cult following]] in the international bartending community and is immensely popular in [[Argentina]].<ref name="vice">{{Cite web |last=Compton |first=Natalie B. |date=November 26, 2018 |title=How Fernet Took Over Argentina |url=https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/wj3xbw/how-fernet-took-over-argentina |access-date=June 12, 2019 |website=[[Vice (magazine)|Vice]] |publisher=[[Vice Media]]}}</ref> The South American country consumes more than 75% of all fernet produced globally<ref name="cnn" /> and, due to the product's popularity, also has [[Fratelli Branca]]'s only distillery outside of Italy.<ref name="vice" /> As it is [[Fernet con coca|traditionally mixed with Coke]], fernet has also contributed in making Argentina one of the biggest consumers of [[Coca-Cola]] in the world.<ref name="cnn">{{Cite web |last=Lahrichi |first=Kamilia |date=March 14, 2017 |title=Argentina loves its Fernet, a bitter Italian liquor |url=https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/fernet-alcohol-argentina/index.html |access-date=June 12, 2019 |publisher=[[CNN Travel]]}}</ref> Fernet and Coke (Spanish: ''[[fernet con coca]]'') is so ubiquitous in Argentina that it has been described as "the country's unofficial drink".<ref name="vice" /> This combination is called ''fernandito''.

==Popularity==

===In Argentina===
{{See also|Fernet con coca}}
[[File:Fernet and Coke (Fernet con Coca).jpg|thumb|''[[Fernet con coca]]'' (English: Fernet and Coke), a [[cultural icon]] of Argentina]]

Fernet was introduced to Argentina by Italians during the [[Great European immigration wave to Argentina|Great European immigration wave to the country]] of the late 19th century and early 20th century.<ref name="dia">{{Cite web |last=Petovel |first=Pablo |date=1 January 2013 |title=Todo lo que hay que saber sobre el fernet |url=http://www.diaadia.com.ar/cordoba/todo-lo-que-hay-que-saber-sobre-fernet |access-date=20 March 2016 |publisher=Día a Día. Contenidos Mediterráneos |language=es}}</ref> It is particularly associated with [[Córdoba Province, Argentina|Córdoba Province]], which has been called "the world fernet capital"; almost three million litres are consumed there annually, representing just under 30 percent of national consumption.<ref name="vos">{{Cite web |last=Marchetti |first=Nicolás |date=15 October 2015 |title=Eligieron el mejor fernet de Argentina y no es el que estás pensando |url=http://vos.lavoz.com.ar/comer-y-beber/eligieron-el-mejor-fernet-de-argentina-y-no-es-el-que-estas-pensando |access-date=20 March 2016 |publisher=[[La Voz del Interior]]. Clarín Group |language=es}}</ref> National production is around 25 million liters, with 35% sold in [[Buenos Aires|Buenos Aires city]] and [[Buenos Aires Province|province]].<ref>{{Cite news |title=El fenómeno fernet |language=es |work=Clarín |url=http://www.clarin.com/diario/2005/06/02/conexiones/t-988028.htm |access-date=2014-08-11 |archive-date=2009-03-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090308153725/http://www.clarin.com/diario/2005/06/02/conexiones/t-988028.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Los argentinos vuelven al vermouth y al whisky importado |language=es |work=Clarín |url=http://www.ieco.clarin.com/notas/2008/02/11/01603486.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080214124444/http://www.ieco.clarin.com/notas/2008/02/11/01603486.html |archive-date=2008-02-14}}</ref> [[Fernet-Branca]] is by far the most popular brand in the country, leading the market and reaching a "mythical" status among Argentines.<ref name="cola">{{Cite web |date=3 May 2013 |title=EBranca reconoce que la mezcla de fernet con Coca nació en Córdoba |url=http://www.lavoz.com.ar/ciudadanos/branca-reconoce-que-mezcla-fernet-con-coca-nacio-cordoba |access-date=20 March 2016 |publisher=[[La Voz del Interior]]. Clarín Group |language=es}}</ref> Other popular brands include 1882, Capri, Ramazzotti and Vittone.<ref name="vos" />

Fernet is commonly mixed with [[Coca-Cola]], a [[mixed drink]] known as ''[[fernet con coca]]'' (Spanish for "fernet and Coke") or ''fernando''.<ref name="cola" /><ref name="Rathbun2009">{{Cite book |last=Rathbun |first=A. J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hKgGjgbfhaUC&pg=PA207 |title=Dark Spirits: 200 Classy Concoctions Starring Bourbon, Brandy, Scotch, Whiskey, Rum and Morse |publisher=Harvard Common Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-55832-427-5 |page=207}}</ref> While long available, the drink became much more popular in the mid-1980s, encouraged by advertisements of Fratelli Branca in TV stations with national scope,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Promos y Publicidades Canal 9 Argentina (1987/88) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wN-eX0DfwYk  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/wN-eX0DfwYk |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|via=www.youtube.com}}{{cbignore}}</ref> its popularity growing steadily ever since.<ref name="brando">{{Cite web |last=Vecino |first=Diego |title=Fernet: una historia de amor argentina |url=http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1387961-fernet-una-historia-de-amor-argentina |access-date=11 December 2017 |publisher=Conexión Brando. [[La Nación]] }}{{Dead link|date=April 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Consumption of fernet increased greatly in the first decade of the 21st century.<ref name="dia" /> By the early 2010s, the popularity of relatively inexpensive fernet was so high that many bars in Buenos Aires removed it from their menus to encourage sales of more expensive drinks.<ref name="dia" />

===In the United States===
The drink has been popular in the [[San Francisco Bay Area]] since before [[Prohibition]].<ref name="sfweekly" /> In 2008, San Francisco accounted for 25% of US consumption.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Curtis |first=Wayne |date=November 2008 |title=The Bitter Beginning: Learning to love a bracing Italian liqueur |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200811/bitters |journal=[[The Atlantic]]}}</ref> San Francisco bars usually serve fernet as a [[Shooter (drink)|shot]] followed by a [[ginger ale]] chaser.<ref name="sfweekly" />

===In the Czech Republic===
The Czech-manufactured [[Fernet Stock]] brand is popular in the Czech Republic,<ref>{{Cite web |title=O Společnosti - Stock Spirits |url=https://www.stock.cz/about/default.aspx |access-date=2020-06-29 |website=www.stock.cz |language=cs}}</ref> where it is served as shots or as part of different cocktails.

==Cocktails==
Fernet can be mixed into cocktails, though the strong taste can overwhelm other ingredients. It can replace [[bitters]] in recipes; for instance, the Fanciulli cocktail is a [[Manhattan (cocktail)|Manhattan]] with fernet instead of [[Angostura bitters]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Felten |first=Eric |date=2009-01-03 |title=Making Bitter Fernet-Branca Much Easier to Swallow |work=[[Wall Street Journal]] |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB123092858411149807}}</ref>

The chef [[Fergus Henderson]] offers a recipe, entitled both "A Miracle" and "Dr. Henderson", that approximates Branca Menta (a fernet with menthols and peppermint), by combining two parts fernet with one part [[crème de menthe]] over ice. The recipe describes this cocktail as a cure for overindulgence.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Henderson |first=Fergus |title=The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail Eating |date=April 2004 |publisher=Ecco |isbn=0-06-058536-6 |author-link=Fergus Henderson}}</ref>

==In popular culture==
[[Fernet-Branca]] forms the titular subject of [[James Hamilton-Paterson]]'s 2004 novel of Tuscany expatriate life, ''Cooking with Fernet Branca''.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Michael Dibdin |author-link=Michael Dibdin |date=2004-06-19 |title=Strange brew |work=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2004/jun/19/featuresreviews.guardianreview10}}</ref>

[[Silverada]]'s 2019 song "You Look Good in Neon" makes reference to Fernet in its chorus. Fans of the band have taken to buying shots of the drink at concerts.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Hudak |first1=Joseph |title=How Mike and the Moonpies Blew Up Their Red Dirt Image at Abbey Road |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-country/mike-and-the-moonpies-cheap-silver-abbey-road-orchestra-865850/ |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=2 August 2019 |access-date=4 November 2022}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Commons category-inline}}
{{Portal|Italy|Drink|Liquor}}
* [[Fernet-Branca]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Argentine alcoholic drinks]]
[[Category:Bitters]]
[[Category:Distilled drinks]]
[[Category:Food and drink in the San Francisco Bay Area]]
[[Category:Italian liqueurs]]