Fernet y Coca

Cordoba is known as the Fernet y Coca capital of Argentina. Sandwich boards outside bars everywhere in this country offer happy hour specials on this cocktail which initially gained popularity amongst College students in this university town.

Fernet is a potent 40% ABV Italian digestif brewed with twenty seven herbs roots and spices. Known in Italy as an Amaro, it is a bitter eau-de-vie in the tradition of Grappa, usually consumed as a digestif after dinner. In Argentina, however, it is served over ice and mixed with Coke.

As we approach our second full month in Argentina, I finally broke down and ordered my first Fernet y Coca during this afternoon's football game.

I had read that Fernet is an acquired taste, but nothing could have prepared me for the overwhelming medicinal characteristics of this brew. I had a sip of the dark brown liquer before adding the Coca-Cola to it and can only describe it as slightly more palatable than Buckley's cough syrup. But surprisingly, when I mixed in the Coke, it didn't get much better. The sugar in the Coke brought the taste experience closer to an intense, liquid Hall's eucalyptus cough drop.

In the end, I'm not sure I care to acquire a taste for this particular Argentine delight. Their fine Malbec, Cervezas and sparklers will be all that will whet my whistle from now on.Read more