If you've ever visited San Francisco, Argentina, or Milan (or worked in a bar just about anywhere), chances are you've encountered Fernet-Branca. It's the original and most popular brand of fernet, a class of Italian amari (bitter digestif liqueurs) made with dozens of bold, bitter, and, frankly, polarizing ingredients. While it's a regional and sometimes national cult favorite, you don't have to look too hard to find someone who can't stand the stuff—the phrase "mouthwash with delusions of grandeur" gets thrown around quite a bit.

Die-hard fernet fans go so far as to claim that it has medicinal properties—and, with a secret ingredient list containing a veritable menagerie of herbs and spices, it very well may—as well as some serious effectiveness as a hair-of-the-dog hangover cure. So if you spent last night following our Mojito recipe and guide for how to make a Manhattan a little too enthusiastically, you're in luck.

We fell in love after our first sip, but we also understand why that's not a universal reaction. Luckily, you don't always have to drink it straight; everywhere that fernet is popular, folks have come up with creative ways to help newbies ease into it.

Fernet and Soda

In Italy, amari are often mixed with soda water and quaffed as a low-alcohol daytime drink. Though Campari and Soda is the best-known refresher, Fernet and Soda is great as well. It takes the edge off some of the more powerful flavors, and a bit of effervescence makes it somewhat less intimidating.

Fernet and Ginger

In our hometown of San Francisco, fernet was popularized thanks to the thriving Italian community in the neighborhood of North Beach. Throughout the city, the most common way it's served is as a shot with a ginger ale back. Fernet cocktails are also a favorite in the SF craft bar scene (this Hanky Panky recipe is a big one), but the Fernet and Ginger reigns supreme.

Fernet con Coca

Fernet con Coca (Fernet and Coke) is pretty much the national drink of Argentina. It's exactly what it sounds like—Fernet-Branca mixed with Coca-Cola—and the result is surprisingly interesting. The sugar and cola flavors blend beautifully with fernet's complexities, muting some and highlighting others. We're rarely impressed with Coke as an ingredient, except in those drinks in which it was born to thrive like the Cuba Libre, but it really shines here.

Photo: Bevvy