Fernet-Branca is the Italian amaro made from a secret recipe involving 27 herbs and other ingredients, with intensely bitter, aromatic and mint-like notes.
The drink was formulated in Milan in 1845 by Bernardino Branca, a self-taught herbalist whose family established the Fratelli Branca Distillerie. It belongs to the fernet style of amaro, a category of bitter herbal spirits traditionally served as digestifs. Its exact formula remains a trade secret.
Reported ingredients include Chinese rhubarb, gentian, cinchona, aloe, angelica, chamomile, myrrh, saffron and galanga. The combination creates a complex profile often described as bitter, medicinal, herbal and mentholated rather than simply sweet or minty. Fernet-Branca is commonly bottled at 39% alcohol by volume and aged in oak for about a year.
A frequent mix-up involves Branca Menta, a related Fratelli Branca product that has a more pronounced mint flavor. Fernet-Branca itself is often served neat or in cocktails, while Argentina is particularly associated with fernet con coca, a mixture of Fernet-Branca and Coca-Cola.