From TheLiquidMuse.com

In the U.S., the average person uses the term “cocktail” the way they use “champagne," as a blanket, descriptive term to cover a category of beverages.  Most of the "cocktail menus" we see in our favorite lounges and bars are not necessarily made up of true cocktails.  They may be smashes or punches or crustas or daisies or other classifications of mixed drinks.  What the hell am I talking about, you ask?  Well, let’s begin with the definition of a cocktail:

Cocktail = Spirit + Water + Sugar + Bitters

* Spirit:  alcohol of some kind (vodka, gin, whiskey, rum, and so on)
* Water: can be tap or soda water, or in the form of ice
* Sugar: can be granulated sugar, simple syrup, or even a sweet liqueur
* Bitters: can be Angostura (found at any supermarket), or flavored bitters such as Fee’s rhubarb, grapefruit, peach, etc., or traditional Peychaud’s bitters, as used in the classic “Sazerac” cocktail, or even a bitter apertif / digestif such as Averna, Campari, Fernet Branca, etc.

There is so much room for creativity when it comes to designing a new cocktail, just as there is creating a special meal, or painting, or designing the latest ditty to drape over a model on the catwalk.  This creative factor is exactly what attracts so many of us “artsy types” behind the bar. I can wax poetic about my love of Campari, and go on about the myriad of novelties with using flavored bitters.  However, in this post, I want to share a bit about the “elite” bartender’s darling, that little Italian bitter sweetheart called Fernet Branca.