Ingredients
A menthol-and-eucalyptus fernet with cocoa nib and bitter root depth, macerated in small batches on Chicago's north side.
- ✦Peppermint
- ✦Eucalyptus
- ✦Cocoa nib
- ✦Gentian root
- ✦Cinnamon
- ✦Chamomile
History of the Brand
Brenton Engel started Letherbee in Chicago in 2011, first known for a gin built around juniper and a rotating cast of botanicals.
The fernet followed as a bar-industry bottle, made for the shot-and-a-beer culture of Chicago's service crowd.
Cocoa nib is the house signature, giving a darker, less medicinal profile than the Milanese template.
It travelled quickly through the Midwest and became one of the reference points for American-made fernet.
Tasting Characteristics
Eucalyptus, cocoa and mint leaf.
Cooling and dark — peppermint, unsweetened chocolate and a firm gentian bitterness.
Long, dry and mentholated.
Flavor meter
How to serve it
- 01Straight from the freezer as a shot.
- 02With cola and a lemon wedge.
- 03In a Hanky Panky for a cocoa-tinged variation.
- 04A quarter-ounce rinse in a whiskey Old Fashioned.
Where to Get It
Widely available in Illinois and the Midwest; distributed to a number of other US states.
Chicago bottle shops
Stocked across the city, often near the local gins.
Online spirits retailers
Search 'Letherbee Fernet'.
Midwest cocktail bars
A common industry shot in Chicago and Milwaukee.
Where to buy Letherbee Fernet
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Letherbee Fernet FAQ
How is Letherbee Fernet different from Fernet-Branca?
+
Cocoa nib gives it a darker, richer profile, and it is a touch lower in proof and less medicinal on the finish.
Is it sweet?
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No. It is dry and bitter-forward, with sweetness only in the background.