Booze Issue

The next Fernet: What booze will replace the ‘bartenders’ handshake’?

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It’s considered the “bartenders’ handshake,” a drink so popular within the beverage industry, just asking for the potent potion says you’re part of the club. It is Fernet-Branca, an Italian amaro or bitter liqueur made with dozens of herbs and roots according to a super-secret recipe that’s supposedly known only to company president Niccolo Branca. Perhaps an even greater mystery is the rabid popularity of this digestif, which pours almost black, tastes medicinal and bracing, and is notoriously hard to mix. And yet, Fernet is having a serious moment.

“You have to get it; it’s not for everyone,” says Wirtz Beverage Development Specialist Andrew Pollard, who calls himself the liquor’s unofficial ambassador. “Some people, they don’t like it or they don’t get it, but they’ll drink it because it’s the thing to do.”

But Fernet can’t rule the booze high school forever. Eventually a new bartenders’ handshake will emerge, and Cosmopolitan Property Mixologist Mariena Mercer says there has already been speculation on what the next liquor du jour will be.

Her picks? “Ancho Reyes (an ancho chile liqueur), other amari (specifically Amaro Meletti or Montenegro) or Chareau (an aloe vera liqueur).”

Pollard is eying Galliano, a “lost brand” of Italian digestif popular in much-derided 1970s drinks that he says is tiptoeing back into the spotlight. He also predicts more mezcal in our cocktails and liquor cabinets. In fact, the new Border Grill outpost at Caesars Palace plans to use the tequila cousin well beyond its margarita menu, mixing mezcal into some classic cocktails.

Will sidling up to the bar for a pour of Ancho Reyes or Galliano have the same effect as requesting a shot of Fernet? Not yet. The bartenders’ handshake can’t be chosen. It must be earned.

Tags: Booze, Featured
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