Fernet Branca tasting - first time!

[maltlicker11]

I tried Fernet Branca for the first time today. First I did a google on it and besides the obligatory wikipedia, I also read this amusing and interesting bit about how popular it is in San Fran.

http://www.sfweekly.com/issues/2005-12- ... ature.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernet_Branca

I poured a bit into a bowl glass to try neat and also into my current favorite low ball glass to try on the rocks. Whoa, quite intense in the snifter.

The SFWeekly article had some pretty funny bits about first time Fernet drinkers. I also flashed back to how MOL posted that she didn't like it.
(MOL - has the Fernet Barca groan on you? :twisted: )

While my reaction wasn't "WTF" or "GAH!" I can see how some would react so. I could also see how a ginger ale back is popular with the FB. I'm not sure if I would use Coke as a mixer but that is just me. Then again, if I ever get the chance to visit Buenos Aires again, I'll do as the locals.

Bottomline, I'll search again for a local supplier and give it an extended try.

Thank you Barca and MDM for expanding my horizons.

Malty

[mjm]

Malty, try calling DeLuca Beverage and Wine (a local wholesaler) to see if they carry Fernet. The distributor that carries it here is owned by the same group that owns DeLuca. It's worth a shot -- if they do carry it, you should be able to acertain which liquor stores have it (and which bars).

Good luck!

[maltlicker11]

Thanks for the tip MJM!

I also forgot to mention this bit from the SFWeekly article

"With the Drug Regulation Reform Act of 1978, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms took a more investigative sip of the drink and tightened controls on Fernet-Branca, forcing one of the few changes in the recipe in order to bring opiates down to legal levels.

Today Fernet-Branca is 80 proof, with only trace amounts of opiates. Bottles of the earlier opiate-rich brew are rare and can be identified by true Fernet-Branca scholars upon a close examination of the label."

F'ing government! Didn't they screw up Coca-cola too?

Malty

ps Well time to clear the palate and then try the Green Fairy :wink:

[Sgt. HSA]

They're one of the magazine's sponsors, and every year at the con they set up a table with free shots. Not bad, tastes a bit like Jager minus the sugar.

Plus they gave out free yo-yos Sunday night, which was a big hit with all the drunkards.

[mattgrowler]

This is my first post and I can already tell I love this message board.

I'm Italian, grew up in an Italian family, and Fernet Branca was always used medicinally for fevers, flu, stomach aches, and as a hangover cure. In Italy it is known as a "Digestivo" which aids your stomach handling a large meal.

Shots are cool but I prefer slowly savoring it on the rocks, typically after a large meal or during a hardcore hangover. If you want to get hammered with it I would actually recommend using it as an adjunct in a coctail (kind of like angostura bitters). Here's an oddball one:


Faniciulli
----------
1 1/2 oz bourbon
1 tbs. Sweet Vermouth
1 tbs. fernet branca

combine with ice, shake well, strain into glass with crushed ice.

If you get hammered on fernet branca let me know how it turns out. I only use it when my stomach hurts from drinking a lot, or from eating too much, or as a nightcap, or as a hangover cure. I was warned long ago from my family that a hangover from only drinking fernet branca is the worst. That kinda doesn't make sense because it is supposed to be medicine for headaches and stomach aches, but who knows? Maybe they're right.

[lanternchikk]

Heheh, apparently our prime minister likes that bitter shit.

[Niles the poodle]

Fernet alone is yummy. Fernet with a ginger ale back is yummy mucho. The Chick turned me on to this.

[mjm]

I really like Fernet Branca.

That said, I tried it with a Ginger Ale chaser tonight, for the hell of it.

It's really fucking good. I might actually be able to get someone else to enjoy it with me.

[Martini Time]

I tried Fernet Branca for the first time today. First I did a google on it and besides the obligatory wikipedia, I also read this amusing and interesting bit about how popular it is in San Fran.

You mean how popular it WAS around here. Since Barca has departed this fine city, I can guarantee with absolute certainty that sales have plummeted. I'm sure that they didn't mention the closing of several bars due to sudden inactivity. This must have been an old story.

I also flashed back to how MOL posted that she didn't like it.(MOL - has the Fernet Barca groan on you? :twisted: )

I had a strange dream a few nights ago...and it was before I read this post. I was sitting at a bar with MOL, and there were Frenet shots all around. She just sat there with Wild Turkey™ 101 neat, dismissing them with a wave of her hand and several condescending and snide remarks. Anyway, I think it was a dream.