Fernet Branca
Fernet-Branca is a Milanese bitter at 39% ABV, made since 1845, its maker’s site says, from 27 herbs, roots and spices, among them rhubarb, gentian, galangal and chamomile, and rested for a year in oak. It is far more bitter and less sweet than most amari, with a cooling menthol finish. Bartenders use it in small measures, as in the Hanky Panky and the Toronto; in Argentina it goes long with cola.
Quick Facts
Sealed and upright; it needs no fridge, though a fridge-cold bottle serves better neat.
None of the 14 listed allergens. Recipes change: check the bottle.
About Fernet Branca
Flavour Profile
Primary Flavours
Tasting Notes
Bitter roots and herbs with a strong menthol coolness, little sweetness, and a finish that stays bitter for a long time.
Twenty-seven botanicals and a year in oak
Fratelli Branca has made Fernet-Branca in Milan since 1845 and keeps the formula secret. It names some of the 27 herbs, roots and spices and where they come from: rhubarb from China, gentian from France, galangal from India or Sri Lanka, chamomile from Europe or Argentina. They are infused in alcohol, extracted or boiled down, and the mixture spends a year in oak before it is bottled at 39% ABV.
Fernet is a style; Branca is the reference
Fernet names a style of Italian bitter: dark, very bitter, usually low in sugar and often mentholated. Several firms make one, and Fernet-Branca is the bottle most recipes mean. Its producer files it under bitters rather than liqueurs, and at 39% it is close to spirit strength, so in a drink it behaves more like aromatic bitters scaled up than like a sweet amaro.
Fernet-Branca against the bottles it is compared with (Fernet-Branca’s 39% from its US importer and Brancamenta from its maker; Averna from a retailer’s listing; Campari from LWC’s UK listing; sweetness and doses are ours)
Fernet-Branca
- Strength
- 39% ABV
- Sold as
- Bitter
- Sweetness
- Low
- Typical dose
- 7.5ml in a stirred drink; 50ml with cola
Brancamenta
- Strength
- Not stated by the producer
- Sold as
- Bitter liqueur
- Sweetness
- Higher, mint-led
- Typical dose
- Over ice, very cold
Averna
- Strength
- 29% ABV
- Sold as
- Liqueur
- Sweetness
- High
- Typical dose
- Neat; 20ml in place of vermouth
Campari
- Strength
- 25% ABV
- Sold as
- Liqueur
- Sweetness
- High
- Typical dose
- 30ml in equal-parts drinks
| Bottle | Strength | Sold as | Sweetness | Typical dose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fernet-Branca | 39% ABV | Bitter | Low | 7.5ml in a stirred drink; 50ml with cola |
| Brancamenta | Not stated by the producer | Bitter liqueur | Higher, mint-led | Over ice, very cold |
| Averna | 29% ABV | Liqueur | High | Neat; 20ml in place of vermouth |
| Campari | 25% ABV | Liqueur | High | 30ml in equal-parts drinks |
A small measure in a stirred drink
In the Hanky Panky, Ada Coleman’s drink from the Savoy, by the Oxford Companion’s account, 7.5ml of Fernet-Branca seasons equal measures of gin and sweet vermouth, bringing menthol to the finish and drying the sweetness. The Toronto, which Difford’s Guide, a secondary source, traces to the Fernet Cocktail in Robert Vermeire’s 1922 Cocktails: How to Mix Them, puts the same small measure into rye with demerara syrup and Angostura. Pour more and the fernet becomes the subject of the drink.
Long, with cola
Its producer recommends it with cola, chinotto or ginger ale, and credits fernet and cola with its following in Argentina. Our Fernandito pours a 50ml measure over ice and fills the glass with full-sugar cola: about two UK units, stronger than it tastes.
Using Fernet Branca
Usage
In small doses in stirred drinks: 7.5ml in the Hanky Panky, with 45ml each of gin and sweet vermouth, and 7.5ml in the Toronto, with rye. Long, 50ml in the Fernandito, filled up with cola. Neat or over ice after dinner.
Pro Tip
Taste a Toronto before reaching for more sugar. The recipe's one small spoon of rich demerara syrup is enough against the fernet, and more turns the drink syrupy.
Top Tips
- Measure it like a strong bitter: 7.5ml seasons a stirred drink, 25ml takes it over.
- Pair it with full-sugar cola; sugar-free versions leave the bitterness bare.
- Brancamenta is a different drink, mint-led and sweeter; do not swap it in where Fernet-Branca is named.
Production Method
By its maker’s account, twenty-seven herbs, roots and spices from four continents, rhubarb, gentian, galangal and chamomile among them, are infused in alcohol, extracted or boiled down, then left a year in oak before bottling at 39% ABV.
History & Context
Fratelli Branca’s own site dates Fernet-Branca to 1845 in Milan, calls its formula secret, and credits the Fernandito, fernet with cola, with winning Argentina. Brancamenta, a mint-led bitter liqueur, followed in the 1960s, by its maker’s site.
More to explore
Common Questions
What is Fernet-Branca?
What does Fernet-Branca taste like?
Is Fernet-Branca a liqueur?
How do you drink Fernet-Branca?
What is a Hanky Panky?
What is the difference between Fernet-Branca and Brancamenta?
How strong is Fernet-Branca?
Does Fernet-Branca need refrigerating?
Sources.
Checked between 16 October and 19 October 2026.
- Fratelli Branca Distillerie, “Amaro Fernet-Branca” (producer’s product page, in Italian (1845; 27 herbs, spices and roots; a year in oak; with cola, chinotto or ginger ale)).
- Fratelli Branca Distillerie, “Brancamenta” (producer’s product page).
- The Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails (François Monti), “fernet” (secondary source: an Italian bitter digestive, traditionally unsweetened apart from burnt sugar for colour; Branca credited with launching the category in 1845).
- Branca USA, “Fernet-Branca” (importer’s site for the producer: 39% alc./vol.).
- Blackwell’s Wines & Spirits, “Averna Amaro Siciliano” (retailer listing: 29% ABV (Averna’s own site was not readable)).
- LWC, “Campari 70cl” (UK wholesaler listing (25% ABV)).
- Difford’s Guide, “Toronto” (secondary source).
- The Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails (Dinah Sanders and David Wondrich), “The Hanky Panky” (secondary source: created by Ada Coleman, head bartender at the American Bar at the Savoy; half gin, half sweet vermouth and a little Fernet Branca).
- legislation.gov.uk, “Regulation (EC) No 110/2008, Annex II (retained)”.
Made with Fernet Branca
Featured In These Cocktails
Often Used With
Updated 19 October 2026