A magical, herbal, Fernet-Branca Coin Party Tour across Australia

You may know Fernet-Branca as the bracingly bitter, herbal, dark amaro that you have strong feelings about — whether you love it or loathe it, you’ve got an opinion about it. But Fernet-Branca has also been the bartenders’ handshake for many in the industry — a way of letting an as yet unknown to you bartender know that you, too, are indeed a bartender.

This practice began in the dives and cocktail bars of San Francisco in the 1980s, continued into the late 1990s, before it spread further afield:  craft cocktail bartenders around the US got ahold of it, and it wasn’t long before in the know bartenders spread it across the globe.

Then, in 2012, bartenders got a new treat and a new way of recognising one another in unfamiliar bars: the Fernet-Branca coin. 

These well made, collectable coins are sometimes hard to come by, but as Australian Fernet-Branca brand ambassador, Federico Malavenda — you may know him better as Freddy — explains in the interview below, bartenders around the country have been getting their hands on some only in Australia coins, with designs created by Australian bartenders. 

Freddy recently hosted eight big Fernet-Branca hospo parties around the country, in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Canberra, Perth, Brisbane and Mooloolaba, where he shared the coins with bartenders, drank some amazing Fernet-Branca drinks, and built connections in the bar community. Here, he tells us all about it.

BOOTHBY: What was the big idea with this tour? 

FREDDY: Well, we wanted to do the tour because we had the Fernet-Branca state coins available for Australia — we’ve done them for the first time this year. And that for me was an excuse to do a proper trip around Australia and put on a little bit of a party for the people of Australia. So that’s what we did. We started in Sydney, went all the way around the country, and finished up a few weeks ago in Hobart.

What is it about the Fernet coins — why do you make them? What do they mean to people?

The coin is for hospitality people, bartenders mainly, and is a token of appreciation from the brand. Branca started producing these coins over a decade ago. It is a gift that Branca gives to industry people that love Fernet-Branca and drink Fernet-Branca — bartenders who talk about it, recommend it to their patrons, use it in cocktails. So the coins are something they wanted to create for you to always keep on you, in your wallet or your apron pocket; it’s something that reminds you of your bond with the brand, so when a bartender from interstate goes around visiting some new bars, or if they go and see their friends that work in another bar, when they order a round of shots, they put a coin on the bar and they might want to chat about how the party was. It’s about connections.

Who brought the most energy to the parties around the country?

You know what, I was ready for a different question — like, what was the best party. But the most energetic one... man. The most energetic one must be the Victorian party in Melbourne, because it went really late. It started at 10pm and it finished at around 4am. It was Loch & Key — the energy was definitely high there. I’m not really used to doing that kind of event that late, but those Loch & Key folks, that’s what they do. And it was just perfect.

What was it like at the closing event in Hobart, having done all these events around the country, and bringing it to a close? How did it feel? After all, this was like two or three months of your life.

Yeah, I felt a bit down, to be honest, I was kind of like: well, what do I have to do now? Of course, I quickly found out what I had to do — which was pretty much everything that I didn’t get to do up until May. So I got pretty busy pretty quickly. It’s been the most fun I have ever had, just organising and travelling and going around  all the states. So going back to normal work life — it’s been a bit hard! But I’m back into it and yeah, I love it.

What was the reaction like to the coins in each state?

Yeah, everyone loved them. It was exactly what I hoped for — I said, I’m sure if we do these coins, we’re going to have a really great response. And that’s what happened. I think everyone is really proud of having a coin just for their own state. 

So we had a great response. We had all the bartenders that designed the coins coming to the parties. And it was great to introduce them to bartenders who they didn’t know before.  Everyone loved the designs. Everyone already was talking about swapping them around on their next trip to Sydney or Melbourne. It was perfect.

Which bar had the best drink in your mind? Because the bars were putting on different drinks, in every state.

Yeah, we gave free rein to the bars to do whatever they wanted with the drinks on the list at each party. Look, I have to say that the Mojito they made at Uncanny here in Sydney — it is so simple, but it was one of the best Mojitos — without rum — that I’ve ever had in my life. 

What was in this magical elixir?

Well, there was actually a full shot of Fernet-Branca, a full shot of Blanca-Menta. There was lime juice, a touch of brown sugar syrup, fresh mint leaves, crushed ice, and a little splash of soda. So just as you would make a Mojito, just without rum, but with a whole lot of amaro in there.

Wow — we’ll have to give that a go. And did we see a Fernet-Branca ice luge at the parties?

Yeah, we did that one in Brisbane at Cobbler. We just wanted to do something really Instagrammable, and of course, that’s what happened. Everyone loves to have a shot through an ice cold luge. So we got that done just for that event, it worked out really well — the luge looks exactly like a Fernet-Branca coin. It was great. 

Okay, what’s next for Fernet-Branca for bartenders? What are they gonna keep an eye out for?

Oh look, so there is some new merch coming up, which is pretty special. I don’t want to say too much about it because it’s not been announced properly yet, but that’ll happen in around June or July. Yeah, we’ve done a beautiful run of shirts or jerseys. I’m giving it away just a little bit. They’re really beautiful. A little bit of of a limited run, so they’ll go to a few special places.

And then of course, you know, my usual trainings and tasting and of course we’ll do some more takeovers. But for now, that’s the Fernet-Branca state coins all wrapped up for the year.