By Peter Lawrence Kane

Fernet-Branca has been manufactured in Italy since 1845. Two years later, the tiny port village of Yerba Buena, Alta California, was renamed San Francisco. Love it or hate it, the oily Milanese digestif has a Belle Époque glamour that is inextricably tied to this city's drinking culture.

While the drink's exact composition is a closely held secret, the piney, almost mentholated liqueur that's even more bitter than a typical amaro does contain aloe, gentian root, rhubarb, myrrh gum, red cinchona bark, galangal, zedoary, and possibly wormwood. Fernet-Branca reputedly purchases three-quarters of the world's saffron, almost all of which is grown in Iran and would therefore be difficult for an American company to procure.

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Source: http://www.thebolditalic.com/