Fernet con Coca
Photo: Will Shenton · CC BY-SA 3.0

History

Fernet Branca arrived with Italian immigration in the late 1800s. The mix with Coca-Cola was popularised in Cordoba in the 1980s by students cutting the bitter Italian amaro with the cheaper local cola, and spread nationwide through the 1990s. Argentina is now the world's largest market for Fernet Branca and the drink remains the bar-default of porteño nightlife; Branca operates an Argentine bottling plant.

Make it at home

Yield 1Hands-on 2 minTotal 2 minDifficulty Easy

Ingredients

  • 60ml Fernet Branca
  • 180ml ice-cold Coca-Cola (not diet)
  • Plenty of ice cubes

Method

  1. Fill a tall glass to the brim with ice.
  2. Pour over the Fernet Branca.
  3. Top with Coca-Cola; the carbonation should foam over the top.
  4. Do not stir. Drink immediately; the herbal bitterness fades as the ice melts.

Tip from the editors. The Cordoban tradition is one part Fernet to three parts Coke. Hardened drinkers go 1:2.

Where to eat fernet con coca

Fernet con Coca in Buenos Aires

Tres Monos ★ 4.8

$$ Cocktail barPalermo SohoUntil Tue-Sat 19:00-03:00

Buenos Aires' top cocktail bar; #10 in the World's 50 Best Bars 2025. Open Tuesday to Saturday until 03:00; standing room at the bar past midnight.

TryCocktails and bar snacks

Directions

Floreria Atlantico ★ 4.7

$$$ Cocktail barCocktail bar, speakeasyRetiro

Tato Giovannoni's subterranean cocktail bar behind the cold-room door of a Retiro flower shop. World's 50 Best Bars list; menu themed by immigrant origins.

DrinkPrinceps gin and tonic with Principe de los Apostoles yerba mate gin

FoodTapas, grilled meat, fish

Directions

Frank's ★ 4.4

$$$ Cocktail barSpeakeasy cocktail barPalermo Hollywood

The original Buenos Aires speakeasy: phone-booth door, access code, cocktail room behind it. Palermo Hollywood since 2011; many copycats, original remains.

DrinkClassics with Argentine twists

FoodNone

Directions

Victoria Brown ★ 4.4

$$$ Cocktail barSpeakeasy cocktail barPalermo Soho

Palermo Soho speakeasy hidden behind a coffee bar; walk through Victoria Brown coffee, find the sliding door. Vintage room, Argentine craft spirits.

DrinkModern signatures and tea-infused cocktails

FoodSmall plates

Directions

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