‘Tis the season to eat, drink, and be merry, my loves! You know I always love to bring you some fabulous entertaining ideas as soon as the holiday’s arrive and what’s better than a phenomenal seasonal cocktail to kick off your Thanksgiving toasts with?!
I’ve teamed up with Fernet Branca and Carpano Antica, two of my favorite Italian spirits to bring you a tasty, unique and super herbacious holiday cocktail for your celebrations. I adore Fernet for its bitter, aromatic qualities (and it makes a great digestif after a big meal) and pairing it with the Carpano sweet vermouth (yum, my favorite) really brings an awesome level of sophistication and flavor to your table. I guarantee including some old world Italian flare to your holiday will be a fun surprise that will have your guests saying “oh my, what is that?!” It’s the perfect little segue before you hit those big bottles of Cabernet.
Adding some fresh herbs and a little orange bitters makes this equal parts cocktail bright, vivacious, and yes, strong! I went with gin as my booze base for something clean with a hint of juniper, but you could also do bourbon, my cold weather go-to liquor, and it would pair beautifully with this.
I crushed up ice for an awesome craft cocktail effect. This is something super easy to do at home and adds a lot of panache to your holiday cocktail. If your ice machine doesn’t make its own crushed ice, just throw a big handful of cubes into a Ziploc bag and crush them by pounding with a meat mallet or heavy ladle. Presto! Perfect at-home crushed ice.
Such an easy holiday cocktail that only looks like it was made by a master mixologist. Here’s what you’ll need to throw it together:
Bitter Orange Fernet + Carpano Betty
Ingredients
- 1 ounce of good gin
- 1 ounce of Fernet Branca
- 1 ounce of Carpano Antica
- 3 dashes of orange bitters
Directions
Combine ingredients in a mixing glass and stir over ice.
Strain into a rocks glass over crushed ice.
Garnish with an orange twist and mint sprig.
Enjoy!
