Robert Vermeire's Cocktails, 1922.
| 2 oz · 60 ml | CANADIAN RYE | 40 % |
| ¼ oz · 8 ml | FERNET BRANCA | 39 % |
| ¼ oz · 8 ml | SIMPLE SYRUP | |
| 2 dashes | ANGOSTURA BITTERS | 44 % |
1 oz taken as 30 ml in the metric column.
1 oz taken as 30 ml in the metric column.
| Pre-batch | 2.56 oz mixed with ice, 0.92 oz of it pure alcohol |
|---|---|
| Melt | Stirred: +15 % of the pre-batch, +0.38 oz of water |
| Served | 2.56 + 0.38 = 2.94 oz in the glass |
| Strength | 0.92 ÷ 2.94 = 31.4 % ABV as served |
| Ethanol | 0.92 oz × 29.57 ml × 0.789 g/ml = 22 g · about 151 kcal from the alcohol alone |
FROM RYE · from oak barrel aging
Bourbon's fingerprint, extracted from the charred American oak the law requires for aging. Same molecule as the vanilla bean's signature, so a well-aged bourbon legitimately tastes like vanilla. Chemistry, not metaphor. Cognac, aged rum, tequila reposado all extract vanillin from oak too. Different barrels, same molecule.
ALSO IN Old Fashioned · Manhattan · Whiskey Sour · Paper Plane · Boulevardier · Sazerac · Espresso Martini · Mai Tai
FROM FERNET BRANCA
The bitter from gentian root, used across Campari, Aperol, sweet vermouth, Angostura, and most amari. Bitter compounds activate TAS2R taste receptors that evolved to detect plant alkaloids. The same machinery that makes broccoli taste bad to children also makes a Negroni taste like an adult ordered it.
ALSO IN Negroni · Manhattan · Paper Plane · Boulevardier · Sazerac · Naked & Famous · Last Word · Vieux Carré
Canadian rye, Fernet-Branca, simple syrup and Angostura. It is the Old Fashioned's northern cousin: Fernet's menthol-adjacent saffron-aloe bitterness replaces the citrus peel expression. ABV is about 32%.
First documented in Robert Vermeire's 1922 Cocktails: How to Mix Them, where Vermeire notes it is 'much appreciated by the Canadians of Toronto.' The recipe nearly vanished until Seattle bartender Jamie Boudreau, a Canadian, championed it in the 2000s. Fernet Branca is the load-bearing modifier; substituting another amaro changes the drink's identity.
