Branca Menta, 70 cl

Product Information

Zanoni, Elizabeth (21 March 2018). Migrant Marketplaces: Food and Italians in North and South America. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-05032-9.

To get a better overview, read the details of the best alternatives to Fernet Branca below. Each substitute has a short description and taste review to find the perfect replacement for your needs. With almost two-thirds of the population claiming Italian ancestry, Argentina was an obvious market from the start. Initially Fernet-Branca provided a comforting taste of home and some defence against malaria since it contains quinine. Fratelli Branca was exporting by 1907 and established a distillery in the suburbs of Buenos Aires. In 1982 the distillery expanded and moved northwest of the capital, and production settled at around a million litres a year. Mixed with vermouth, the drink became a Sunday lunchtime ritual, with a slightly tired image, as in Italy. It was something to ease digestion, soothe a hangover and mend a broken heart. There are countless herbal liqueurs and Amaros on the shelves of our supermarket. But I will list only the very best alternatives for Fernet Branca. Chartreuse Colada: Green Chartreuse, Jamaican Rum, pineapple juice, Branca Menta, cream of coconut, and mint. Although all of these ideas will be part of my upcoming summer festivities, that last one got to me. I figured we could do one better by swapping out the root beer for Irish stout.The city had access to countless exotic herbs and spices from the west via Genoa, and from the east via Trieste and Venice. But starting life as a remedy is common for a number of aperitifs. The same goes for the 1880s nerve tonic Pemberton’s French Wine Coca, known as Coca-Cola today. However Fernet-Branca never contained the raw plant for cocaine and nor is it distilled from railroad tar and spinach as the New York Times journalist Toby Cecchini once suspected. Instead it is made from “a secret recipe of 27 ingredients, of which 13 are herbs and spices,” Olianas says. A few jagged edges may be smoothed down after a year’s ageing in big Slovenian oak vats, but it is still a wonder how on earth the drink seduced a generation that was raised on Coke and candy. Fernet Branca is by far the most popular representative of the Fernet category. It tastes very bitter and herbal, with a strong taste of mint and anise. But how can you replace Fernet Branca if you don't have it at home?

Still, when the good people at Branca sent over a bottle for me to play with, I wanted to get creative. So here are some new ways to mix up Branca Menta. They should help keep you cool as summer’s heat ascends. Menta Iced Coffee When preparing a classic Fernet and Coke, “people don’t use standard measurements like a bartender might,” Varela says. For this reason, they offer two ratios at La Fernetería: 70:30 (Coke:Fernet), and 50:50. “People that are accustomed to drinking it at home are used to a stronger pour,” he says, “so most will prefer 50:50.” Writing for La Voz, Argentine journalist José Heinz recommends pouring at a 45-degree inclination so that Coke doesn’t lose its gas. “The foam should expand [vertically] out of the glass,” he writes, “without ever leaving its circumference or escaping down the sides.” An additional ice cube can help procure the perfect foam. CLASSIC FERNET CON COCA Ingredients When Argentines talk about Fernet, they are almost exclusively referring to Branca. The brand is often linked to the creation of the bitter digestif, and, while other international and domestic options are available, Branca is undoubtedly the local favorite. By 1941, demand for Branca was so strong that Branca-Fratelli (Fernet-Branca’s parent company) opened a factory in Buenos Aires. To this day, it remains the only one outside of its native Milan.Fernet and Coke is an honorary guest at each and every one of Argentina’s most important occasions. It is infaltable —a must— at any self-respecting asado, or barbecue, Jordan Macuka, a musician in Buenos Aires, says. Head to one of the city’s bars on any weeknight, and you’ll find locals enjoying a post-work fernet con coca. If one glass leads to four, and the night ends at a late-night tango show or in one of Buenos Aires’ bustling boliches (nightclubs), guess what they’ll be pouring?

Brancamenta was born in the ’60s, a period characterized by great changes, by an economic boom, by a new way of life – more individualistic and less conformist – and, consequently, by great desires for novelties, even in taste and flavours.It may have been born in Italy, but it has been bred around the world. Specifically, in 1860 it was commercialised in Argentina (where a majority of the population claimed Italian heritage) and a factory was opened in Buenos Aires in 1935. Fernet con Cola is now ubiquitous with Argentinian drinking culture – it’s said that Argentinians consume more than three times the amount consumed on home soil in Italy. Ultimately, that doesn’t leave us with a whole lot of variety, does it? With something like 40 herbs and spices crammed into that minty little bottle, it seems like Branca Menta’s potential for mixing should reach much further. And it does. Tasting Notes

Contrary to Fernet, Menta has a more syrupy feel. It coats the mouth with a bittersweet glaze, though I’d say the mint helps to prevent it from feeling too incredibly heavy. Finish There’s a glorious California-born institution known as Philz Coffee (recently name-dropped hard on HBO’s Silicon Valley). They do many wonderful things with the coffee bean, with one rather unique item called the Mint Mojito Iced Coffee. It’s a refreshing, hand-shaken concoction with plenty of mint leaves. Fernet-Branca has a higher alcohol content, at 39%, and lower sugar content than most other amari. [16] It is aged in oak barrels for a year. [16] The company, a pioneer in the creation of a bitter liqueur made from herbs and roots from all over the world, has always based its work on innovation, whilst respecting traditions and quality. Sales topped 47m litres last year, and are still growing, Olianas says. As a result, “our benchmark in Argentina is now wine and beer, it’s no longer spirits”. He has obviously contemplated how to replicate the success in other markets, but wonders whether the conditions in Argentina were somehow unique, what with the long-established distillery and the millions of emigré Italians.Reilly, Laura (26 August 2016). "Why San Francisco Drinks More Fernet Than Anyone in America". Thrillist.