The secret recipe is passed down through generations of the Branca family, and the herb infusion rests for a year in oak barrels
Fernet-Branca was born in Milan in 1845. According to Fratelli Branca Distillerie, that was the year Bernardino Branca invented the drink, first produced on Corso di Porta Nuova. Since then, the company says, the formula has never been altered and remains secret, passed down from generation to generation.
The base of the fernet is 27 herbs, roots and spices, which give the liquid its brown color. The company reveals only a few examples and their origins: rhubarb from China, gentian from France, galangal from India or Sri Lanka and chamomile from Europe or Argentina. The herbs are infused in alcohol, and the mixture rests for a year in oak barrels. The brand suggests drinking fernet as an aperitif, neat or on the rocks, in the classic Hanky Panky cocktail or mixed with cola, chinotto or ginger ale.
The company grew with the family. Stefano Branca joined in 1862 and took the products to new markets. When he died in 1891, his widow, Maria Scala, ran the house until their eldest son, Bernardino, came of age. In 1895, the artist Leopoldo Metlicovitz created the Branca world illustration, which is still the company's logo today. In 1907, with Dino Branca at the helm, production moved to Via Resegone, also in Milan.
The drink left Italy early: a plant opened in Saint-Louis, in Alsace, in 1930, and Fratelli Branca Destilerías was founded in Buenos Aires in 1941. The Alsace site became a museum in 2004. In 1965, Pierluigi Branca created Brancamenta, which appears in the Bebidário catalog as Branca Menta. Since 1999, the company has been run by Niccolò Branca.
The historic Via Resegone factory has housed the Collezione Branca since June 4, 2009, in more than 100 square meters. The collection took ten years to assemble and brings together stills, mortars, calendars from 1886 to 1913, posters by artists such as Metlicovitz and Cappiello, among them the Metlicovitz eagle, and bottles from more than 60 years of production, including one of the first. In 2025, it was added to the register of corporate museums recognized by the Lombardy region.
Sources: Fratelli Branca Distillerie (official website, October 7, 2026).
