Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/430172
62 / the tasting panel / december 2014 COVER STORY The Fratelli Branca community is a growing influence on the direction of global craft, from bartenders upping their amaro selection in an outward spi- ral from San Francisco to the "Fernet y Coca" (Fernet and Coke) craze that ignited Argentina, never cooled off and earned them the only Fernet-Branca production facility outside of Italy. Among other additions to the portfolio, Bernardino Branca's family successors made the savvy move of bringing in Punt e Mes and Carpano Antica Formula. Branca has also recently added to these esoteric and storied vermouths that are now pro- duced at the Fratelli Branca Distillerie in Milan, propriety 200-year-old recipes unchanged with the Carpano Bianco and Carpano Dry. Fratelli Branca's holdings also include a Chianti vineyard and estate that makes wine and olive oil, but the portfolio's Fernet continues to be what Branca Distillerie is best known for. "It takes maybe three times to like it," says Joy Richard, Bar Manager of Citizen in Boston, Massachusetts, one of the first bars in the U.S. to put Fernet-Branca on tap (see sidebar). "The first time people take a sip, they make that face! But they come back for another one, and then the next time, they're bringing in friends to try it." That camaraderie of Fernet-Branca's X factor—it is so truly weird that it's not clear whether you consider it good until you realize you love it—has become such a well-documented and fervent movement that it continues to gain momentum almost of its own inertia. It even has its own ongoing one-chip poker game you play with any fellow Fernet-Branca enthusiast standing behind a bar, based on a propriety Fernet-Branca coin Fratelli Branca produces. You can only get one if you ask the right people, and it carries some historical heft: The coin originated in an army medallion that was key to a young American pilot's survival after being shot down in foreign territory during World War I. You'll be playing a kind of quick-draw for Fernet-Branca shots with it. It's very, very cool. The 1960s-born Brancamenta is edging into its older brother's spotlight, too—it's the palate-cooling and slightly lower-proof liqueur of the same recipe new york: nico szymanski at the lcl: kitchen + bar "Brancamenta has a cooling element to it, not dissimilar from an absinthe rinse in a cocktail. I'm a big fan of Fernet-Branca and this is a little bit lighter, a little bit sweeter on the palate." That's The LCL: Kitchen + Bar's Nico Szymanski, head of the bar program at the Midtown restaurant. He likes put- ting spins on classic cocktails, in part to make esoteric "cocktail nerd" drinks approachable to the general public. "And Brancamenta is a gateway cordial," Szymanski says, only half-joking. Of his drink I Ment to Do That, Szymanski says he's "using the familiar flavor profile of a classic sour, and adding something interesting." Sometimes, he adds, the opportunity is right to follow it up with a mini cordial tasting featuring both Brancamenta and Fernet-Branca. "People really get into it!" And the name? "We like puns around here," he says, chuckling. At West Hollywood, CA's Melrose Umbrella Co., co-owner Zach Patterson says, "We're a bartender's bar," to explain his Fernet-Branca on tap program. PHOTO: ADAM JAMES PHOTO: DOUG YOUNG I Ment to Do That ◗ 1½ oz. Dorothy Parker Gin ◗ ½ oz. Brancamenta ◗ ½ oz. fresh lime juice ◗ ½ oz. simple (1½ parts sugar: 1 part water) ◗ ¾ oz. egg white ◗ Dry-shake all ingredients first, then add ice to the tin and shake again. Double-strain into a coupe and garnish with grated lime zest.