Fernet Branca & Branca Menta Recipes

[FrogPrincesse]

I can't find the reference now, but someone suggested 50/50 Campari and Fernet. I tried it and found it a touch sweet and -- dare I admit it -- intense for me. Adding another equal part of dry vermouth turned it into a sort of dry minty Negroni. I liked it. Fernet has the ABV to pull this off.

That was campus five - here.

[FrogPrincesse]

Not wanting to stay on a bad impression with Fernet, last night I made myself something else that I really liked. The Fernet-lemon-mint combination was a refreshing change from the usual Fernet-ginger.

 

The Wry Grin (Sam Ross) with Bulleit rye, Fernet-Branca, lemon wedges, simple syrup, mint.

 

 

 

Wry Grin (A Sam Ross joint - Milk & Honey, NYC)
1 1/2 oz Hudson Manhattan Rye
1/2 oz Fernet Branca
3/4 oz simple syrup (1:1 sugar to water)
3 lemon wedges
8-10 medium sized mint leaves
Add ingredients to a shaker can. Muddle and taste for balance between the sugar and extracted lemon juice. If necessary, add more citrus or simple for balance. Add ice to shaker can and shake hard for a brief moment, then strain into an ice-filled double rocks glass. Garnish with a large/healthy mint sprig. Serve with a wry grin.

 

 

[FrogPrincesse]

I forgot to thank KD1191 for reminding me about this drink. Your version with Willet rye was phenomenal, I am sure. (I am currently hoarding my Willet. I have decided it is too good for mixing.)

 

From the Drinks! 2014 thread:

 

Needed mint for a recipe and had quite a bit left over, so I made a couple of my minty favorites and pretended it was a scorcher outside:

 

The Wry Grin (a Sam Ross modern classic)...not sure of the original ratios, but I took inspiration from here and made mine as follows:

 

2 oz Rye (Willett 4yr for that slightly minty note found in the high-Rye mashbills)

1/2 oz Fernet (Fernet Leopold, here, which was terrific)

1/2 oz Simple

1/2 a lemon, quartered

10 mint leaves

 

Everything got muddled a bit (though I tried not to beat up on the mint too badly), then shaken with ice and strained onto fresh ice with a healthy, spanked mint garnish.

 

Edited March 14, 2014 by FrogPrincesse (log)

[KD1191]

I forgot to thank KD1191 for reminding me about this drink. Your version with Willet rye was phenomenal, I am sure. (I am currently hoarding my Willet. I have decided it is too good for mixing.)

 

From the Drinks! 2014 thread:

 

Happy to be of service. In retrospect, I wish I'd been a bit more protective of my Willett Rye. I killed the bottle a couple weeks ago, thinking I had another on the way from DrinkUpNY, only to later receive an email from them that their distributor was out and they couldn't deliver. Not very happy with them at the moment.

[FrogPrincesse]

Jackson Cannon's Corpse Reviver No.4 makes Fernet very approachable. It's equal parts rye (I used Bulleit), Fernet-Branca, yellow chartreuse, with a dash of mole bitters and a lemon twist. It is indeed Fernet-forward but considerably tamed by the yellow chartreuse.

 

 

 

Note : The original recipe calls for this drink on the rocks with a discarded lemon twist (it looks like I need to follow instructions more carefully!).

 

 

[Plantes Vertes]

Messed around with a couple of Hanky Pankies tonight.

 

 

Actually, I think I will prefer this drink with more Fernet in it, so I'll try that next time. My housemate was satisfied as is.

[FrogPrincesse]

What ratios did you use PV? I usually go for 2:1:0.25.

[Plantes Vertes]

2:1.5:.25 from PDT.

 

So, I will try your method next time.

[Katie Meadow]

In Portland I had a rye cocktail made with Fernet Jelinek. I liked it so much they gave me a freebie of straight Fernet Jelinek as an after dinner  drink. I can see how people could love or hate this stuff. I'm crazy about it, and just located a bottle of FJ here at home. I've never tasted Fernet Branca.....can anyone compare these two Fernets? 

[EvergreenDan]

Katie -- Fernet Jelinek is nice stuff, but quite mild compared to most other Fernets (Branca, Leopold, Luxardo). The later have a much stronger menthol note, and are more bitter as well.

[Katie Meadow]

Thanks Dan. At my next opportunity I will try another Fernet, but perhaps the subtlety of Jelinek is what keeps me drinking it; you take one more sip just to figure out what it tastes like. There's a mysterious medicinal quality to it, but the menthol isn't dominant, at least to my tongue. 

[lesliec]

I don't think you'd use the word 'subtlety' in any sentence describing Fernet Branca!  But it's a worthwhile bottle to have around and gives a lovely depth in things like this.

[FrogPrincesse]

Jared Brown's Spanky Panky Martini, which is a variation on Ada Coleman's Hanky Panky with mint. Sipsmith London dry gin, sweet vermouth (Punt e Mes), Fernet-Branca, muddled mint, spanked mint garnish. This was stirred.

 

 

Nothing bad to say about it. It's bitter and refreshing at the same time, and I am still enamoured of that gin.

[FrogPrincesse]

Last night, a Bottechia. The story behind this drink created by Kevin Burke was documented in this article (it's also in Gary Regan's Negroni book).

 

I find it impossible to resist an equal parts drink with Fernet-Branca, Cynar, and Campari as the ingredients. I did not have a grapefruit on hand (for the discarded twist), so I used my friend BDW's grapefruit bitters.

 

There is also a pinch of salt in there. I placed mine on the ice cube so it would gradually incorporate into the drink. It tames the drink considerably so you may or may not want to use it depending on your tolerance level for Fernet (mine is high now, I realize; I don't mind it neat). With the salt it's a surprisingly mild drink for something that has Fernet in the forefront. It has a good dose of caramel from the Cynar, and bitter orange from the Campari. Very tasty.

 

 

Edited May 30, 2014 by FrogPrincesse (log)

[Czequershuus]

Something about having a nearly full bottle of Fernet inspires me to make Fernet heavy cocktails. I was looking for a nice desert/nightcap that was not too sweet and this one popped out at me.

 

After Eight

1 Oz Fernet Branca

1 Oz Becherovka

0.25 Oz Godiva Chocolate Liqueur (I only have DeKuyper, which I think is passable in small amounts)

0.25 Oz Agave Syrup (Turbinado)

0.25 tsp Cocoa Powder

1 Egg White

4 ds Chocolate Bitters (Xocatl Mole)

Dry shake, shake, strain, up

 

Wow, this was fantastic. Spicy, sweet, bitter, great texture. Certainly not a cocktail for all occasions, but this to me is an excellent adult desert replacement. 

[FrogPrincesse]

Toronto with St. George dry rye gin. Yes.

 

 

[mkayahara]

I assume you mean "Toronto variation." 

[Rafa]

This thread needs more Branca Menta recipes. May I suggest Audrey Saunders' Good Night, Irene and the Black Rock Chiller of disputed provenance. 

[FrogPrincesse]

Rafa - sell me on Branca Menta. As much as I learned to love Fernet-Branca (which I could not do without), I am not sure that I would be interested in a sweeter, less bitter, and intensely minty version (at least according to this description).

[Rafa]

I'm afraid that's accurate—Branca Menta is basically a much more interesting, complex, imaginative, somewhat drier crème de menthe, with the medicinal/herbal flavors of its older sibling only showing up on the swallow. If you don't like peppermint or menthol in your mixed drinks, it's not for you. That said, several great bartenders (Saunders, McGarry, etc) have found excellent uses for it, and an equal parts shot of Menta and Fernet is an excellent nightcap.

 

I use it in small amounts to bring out the mint in Chartreuse or absinthe, and in larger amounts in dessert-y drinks (I mix it with honey, ginger, and Cognac in a Good Night Irene riff, e.g.) 

 

It's a well made and delicious product, but a hard sell for the likes of the eGullet booze forums  .

Edited July 17, 2014 by Rafa (log)

[Tri2Cook]

It's a well made and delicious product, but a hard sell for the likes of the eGullet booze forums  .

It's been on my list for a long time but so far the LCBO refuses to accommodate me by bringing it in. At least they do carry Fernet.

 

[FrogPrincesse]

Bare Knuckle (Greg Buttera & Stephen Cole): white whiskey (Kings County), sweet vermouth (Punt e Mes), Fernet-Branca, Cynar, Angostura bitters, mint, expressed lemon peel.

Pretty punchy. The recipe recommended a rye-based white whiskey, mine was corn-based and got beat up by the Cynar & Fernet. Oh well...

 

 

 

 

[tanstaafl2]

Hmm, I wonder what would happen if you throw a liquid banana in there? Also known as the JD unaged rye. Gotta use that stuff up somehow!

 

Still might get pretty beaten up...

[FrogPrincesse]

Liquid banana sounds wonderful. Banana and Fernet is a winning combo (as seen here under Above & Beyond, the drink at the Artesian in London).

 

Another one from the backlog. Root of All Evil (Jeff Grdinich) with bourbon (High West Son of a Bourye), Fernet-Branca, Maraschino liqueur, Grand Marnier, orange bitters (Regan + Fee).  Apparently it was created as a riff on the Hoskins with bourbon, which makes it a close relative of the Mother-in-Law.

 

 

I liked the dark bitter orange flavors, but it tasted a bit rich (although I had reduced the amount of Grand Marnier to 1/2 oz as recommended).

Edited September 5, 2014 by FrogPrincesse (log)

[FrogPrincesse]

An old favorite, Don't Give Up the Ship with Sipsmith London dry gin, Fernet-Branca, Dolin sweet vermouth, Pierre Ferrand dry curaçao.