Bourbon, stirred
Fanciulli
Barline 2,Q,q,cl
The code is the shorthand off my printed menu; the Key tab decodes every letter.
- 2 oz Bourbon
- 3/4 oz Sweet vermouth
- 1/4 oz Fernet
Stir with ice until cold, then strain.
Coupe, lemon twist.
Taste
Two ounces of bourbon, three-quarters of sweet vermouth, and a quarter ounce of Fernet standing where the bitters would be. That quarter is enough to run mint and bitter bark the whole length of the drink. Stirred, coupe, lemon twist. A Manhattan with menthol in it.
History
Albert Stevens Crockett prints the Fanciulli in Old Waldorf Bar Days in 1931, recording what the Waldorf bar poured before Prohibition. The name is usually read as Francesco Fanciulli, the Italian-born composer who took the United States Marine Band over from John Philip Sousa in 1892; Crockett weighed and rejected a link to Puccini's La fanciulla del West, noting that the drink's origin considerably antedates the premiere of that opera at the Metropolitan on 10 December 1910. The old formula is two parts whiskey to one each of sweet vermouth and Fernet-Branca; most bars now pour a quarter ounce. This menu pours two ounces of bourbon, three-quarters of sweet vermouth, and a quarter of Fernet, coupe, lemon twist.
Same shape, other bottles
The Martini family, with the bottle that changed.
- Hanky Pankygin for bourbon
- Manhattanwithout Fernet
- Yacht Clublight rum and apricot liqueur for bourbon and Fernet
- Bensonhurstrye and dry vermouth for bourbon and sweet vermouth
- Corpse Reviver No. 1cognac and apple brandy for bourbon
- Dirty Martinigin and dry vermouth for bourbon and sweet vermouth
This is one drink on my home bar's menu. Tick the bottles you own and the menu lists which of all 185 drinks they pour.