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Produced by an herbalist named, Bernardino Branca – Fernet-Branca is one of Italy’s most storied and celebrated spirits. This unique digestif was invented in Milan in 1845, and was originally intended as a medicinal tonic.  Fernet-Branca is the best-known brand of the fernet category of amari, or bitter herbal liqueurs. It’s made with 27 herbs, roo...

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“Milano è positiva, ottimista, efficiente” (“Milan is positive, optimistic, efficient”), a man’s voice murmurs huskily, over a saturated video collage of Milan’s yuppiest set. This, the voice croons, is a city that “rinasce ogni mattina, pulsa come un cuore” (“is reborn every morning, that beats like a heart”). Forget the slow living of the Italian...

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Un Fernet? Our grandparents may have offered it at the end of fancier dinners… But what’s the name we associate the most with this bitter, yet oddly satisfying spirit? Definitely Branca!  Fratelli Branca Distillerie, commonly known as Branca, is one of Italy’s most famous and historic distilleries, with a reputation that extends beyond its national...

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My love for amaro started innocently enough, almost two decades ago, when I sipped my first Negroni. At that time, Campari and Fernet-Branca were the only bittersweet suspects you’d likely encounter behind a bar in the States, and it would be years until the handful of other Italian imports like Zucca, Cynar, and Ramazzotti would be joined by the l...

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What do writer Charles Bukowski, Italy, bitter, arugula, and Brooklyn have in common? Apparently nothing, yet there is an Italian-speaking common thread. In Brooklyn, there is constant talk of Italian bitters, thanks to Faccia Brutto, an all-American brand that produces Italian spirits. The idea belongs to an American chef, Patrick Miller, who for...

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Most people drink amaro before they even realize what it is: an Aperol spritz on a summer afternoon, Campari in a Negroni during a winter happy hour, a finger of Fernet at the end of a meal. Amaro, which means “bitter” in Italian, is an infinitely and intentionally broad category of liqueur that typically involves herbs, and some combination of bit...

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Don Ciccio & Figli is better positioned than most small American spirits brands to take advantage of the current infatuation with amaro. Francesco Amodeo started the company in 2012 in Washington, DC, drawing on a family lineage of Italian spirits makers from the Amalfi Coast that dates back to 1883.  When Amodeo launched, he focused on something A...

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Walnuts have a long and strange history in Italy. While you might not immediately associate the fatty nuts shaped like little brains with Italian cuisine (as pine nuts, hazelnuts, and even chestnuts hog all that glory), they are quite popular in the northern Italian regions of Campania and Emilia-Romagna. According to PUNCH, the liqueur has a rathe...

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At the far side of a dimly lit bar, two bartenders share shots of an unknown brown liquid. They’re drinking fernet—most likely Fernet-Branca—and taking part in a well-known industry ritual often referred to as “the bartenders’ handshake.” This bitter Italian herbal spirit can be found on the shelf of almost any rickety watering hole or high-end coc...

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In 1994, Charlie Manno was assigned to entertain two Italian priests on a trip to Chicago. When the Rocky River man took the priests to the airport after their visit, they wanted to reward his kindness. So, Father Franco Todisco pulled out a notepad and wrote down an old family recipe for infusing lemon and coffee liqueurs. Manno thought nothing of...

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