Booze You Can Use

Now There’s Mexican Fernet

Appearing on a menu near you, soon.
Appearing on a menu near you, soon. Photo: via Chow

Next up on the radars of cocktail geeks, we predict, will be Fernet-Vallet, from Mexico. An importer from San Francisco first discovered the Mexican-style amaro being dribbled into drinks, like bitters, at a dive bar in Guadalajara — namely a drink called the Nalga Rosa, or Pink Testicle*, which is (ahem) rum, vodka, grenadine, Fernet-Vallet, and orange Fanta. It turns out, as Chow reports, the stuff is over 150 years old, and it’s been a popular additive for a long time to Mexico City highballs, which typically feature bottom-shelf booze and neon-colored sodas. Fernet-Vallet is “just as antiseptically bitter” as the popular Fernet-Branca (which in case you didn’t know has a lengthy history in San Francisco), but it’s smoother, less minty, and more viscous, like a syrup. In related news, Haas Brothers importers in S.F. are now importing the Vallet family’s version of Angostura bitters, as well as Fernet-Vallet. [Chow, Earlier]


* This has been corrected to show that ‘nalga’ means testicle, not ass cheek.

Now There’s Mexican Fernet