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Ferrari

The bartender’s handshake: equal parts Fernet-Branca and Campari, stirred with ice and served chilled, neat, as a shot or a short sip. Bitter, herbal, gone fast.

Two bitters in equal measure, 30 ml Fernet-Branca and 30 ml Campari, as the ingredient list has it: that is the Ferrari as bartenders know it. Campari's brighter citrus bitterness softens Fernet's dark mint and herbs, so the pair tastes rounder than either alone. Keep it cold and small; it is a shot or a short sip, not a long drink.

Prep
2 min
Serves
1
Difficulty
Easy

Ferrari

Prep 2 min · Serves 1 · Difficulty Easy

Method

  1. Fill a mixing glass with ice.

  2. Add the Fernet-Branca and Campari.

  3. Stir for about 10 seconds, just enough to chill without watering it down.

  4. Strain into a chilled shot glass or small rocks glass and drink right away, cold.

Where it comes from

Despite the Italian name and the Italian bottles, the Ferrari grew up in American bar culture, where the equal-parts shot became a bartender's handshake; nobody can say for sure who invented it. Fernet-Branca itself has been made in Milan since 1845, and in Italy it is still drunk neat, after a meal.

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