Fernet Branca, the 'liqueur of Hades'

Fernet Branca's intense effect on the palate is largely due to its extreme bitterness, though the drink also contains, among other exotic herbs, myrrh, gentian root, saffron, zedoary, chamomile, cardamom, aloe, and something called cinchona (the exact formula is kept strictly secret). San Francisco Weekly called it "black-licorice flavored Listerine," Robert Misch, the former head of the Wine and Food Society of New York called it the "liqueur of Hades" and wrote that drinking it is "like hitting yourself on the head with a hammer," and Betsy von Furstenberg was suspended from Actor's Equity in 1960 after secretly putting it into Tony Randall's onstage drink.

At a recent dinner party, I served up a basic Fernet Branca cocktail - FB, gin, and sweet vermouth - and it was the surprise hit of the bar. The moral of the story is: if it is called "liqueur of Hades," get behind it, people.