Meeting Count Branca

May 4, 2009

When Jonathan Pogash sent out an invite letting people know that Count Niccolo Branca of the Distillerie Fratelli Branca would be attending a USBGNY mixer, I had to attend, because you know what? Everyone's life needs a little Merchant-Ivory touch to it.

Count Branca lays down what is what with Fernet Branca. The ghostly visage of a curious Jonathan Pogash looms over the count's shoulder.


Well, that's part of the truth. It actually had a lot to do with the fact that while I was aware of Fernet-Branca as a product, I felt like I didn't really know it beyond the cursory knowledge that a) it was an amaro, and b) it tastes bitter when I put some in my mouth. Oh, and c)in San Francisco people drink it like it's going out of style.

When I arrived at the World Bar, I grabbed a Brandy Branca, one of the drinks being made for the special occasion (brandy, Fernet-Branca, lime juice, 10-year tawny port, simple syrup) and it looked like of the people in attendance also were there for a chance to learn.

"Yea, I kind of realized, I don't really know Fernet...besides what I've Googled previously," I confessed to Nicholas Jarrett of APO in Philadelphia. He was armed with a notebook and ready to take notes.

Nicholas answered that info is pretty scarce, so having the count, as well as representatives of the company, coming in person was a rare and eagerly anticipated event.

Obviously other bar trade folks in attendance, like Tad Carducci and Eryn Reece, had more knowledge than I did, but the consensus seemed to be that there was a bit of mystery if not confusion about the product. And the swirling mists of time and anecdotes didn't help in cutting through those mists.

LeNell Smothers asked the count that Fernet-Branca is categorized as an amari, but there are other products that describe themselves as fernet, or incorporate it in their name somehow, so what makes Fernet, well, fernet?

This one question of what is Fernet, or what defines it seemed to stump everyone equally and resulted in about 15 minutes of discussion that basically boiled down to, it's a distinctive product, so it just sort of defines itself within a category.

The reasoning was that Fernet technically counts as its own category because of brand recognition. While other brands have lost bitterness over time, as trends have moved on toward easier drinking and sweetness, Fernet-Branca still maintains the same level of bitterness and flavor. Not as a putdown to other products, it was quickly pointed out by a company representative, but simply stated as a fact.

Even the count admitted that it was difficult to weed out what is history and what is legend when LeNell asked about one origin story that floated around. The story that iron was used in apurification process, resulting in the "fernet" portion of the name from "ferro."

Tad Carducci wanted to know if the Dr. Fernet character really was created to give some sort of Madison Ave.-esque medical credibility to the product back when it was marketed for its medicinal properties.

The count also admitted that this is one of the legends having to do with the product's creation, but in reality there are several out there with no conclusive proof as to what is entirely true.

Even though that particular discussion seemed to run around in circles, people seemed to be pleased to have the opportunity to talk, discuss, and possibly debunk or any previous theories they had about the product. For example, as people asked about the base spirit, it was interesting to learn there isn't really a specific grape that goes into the spirit because, as the count put it, "the character isn't from the spirit but from the herbs." Just further goes to prove my point that as cool as they seem, bartenders are total nerds. They just happen to be nerds about alcohol.

USBGNY: Story time with Gary Regan that makes us think about customer service

March 23

Last week I stopped by the World Bar at Trump World Tower to attend the USBGNY monthly mixer. I'd come just in time to hear Jonathan Pogash make a couple of announcements about upcoming contests and events.

For those attending the NY Bar Show, USBGNY will have a huge presence there this year with its own separate area.

It was the usual thing you'd expect at a meeting like this of this sort, a gathering of industry folks to talk about industry related matter. Except we got to have that there were plentiful booze, mainly in the form of Old Fashioneds made with Pierre Ferrand Cognac Ambre.

And like any proper meeting, we had a guest speaker speak to us about something relating to industry matters, except our speaker wasn't just any speaker. It was the always entertaining, yet insightful, and delightfully salty Gary Regan.

Reading from a sheaf of paper that he said was part of a work in progress memoir that he was working to get published, he began to tell us a bit about his life, and in particular, about his parents. He began his story explaining how he was brought up in the pub business. For a period of his life, his father owned a pub located in a lower class neighborhood near a council estate (public housing in the United Kingdom).

Gary had everyone's attention in the room as he told us tales with relish about the pub's house band. Or how as a youngster, he fell into a group of older boys and would go drinking. How his father "a regular superstar" of the council estate would get up on stage to sing. And he told us of the neighborhood tough guy, "the toughest motherfucker in town" as Gary described him, who'd come in twice a year just to sing "Danny Boy."

While everyone listened to the hilarious and heartfelt stories that Gary told, it became obvious that he wasn't just telling these stories because they were good stories, but he was actually trying to explain to us how deep the relationship between customer and bartender (or in this case, pub owner) can go.

Gary said that his father was almost like a father figure for the council estate through the relationships built with those that came into his bar and through caring about the people living in the neighborhood his pub was situated in, his parents weren't just the pub owners, someone one people could go to whether it was late night phone calls or a need to borrow a little money. Gary didn't find that his mother had slipped cash to those who needed it until 2001, a year after her death. He had no idea that his mother had provided some money for a barmaid whose daughter needed medical attention.

The magnanimity and hospitality his parents provided to those in the neighborhood created a sort of "fierce loyalty'

"He didn't want to fuck up in the last place in town where he could take some stuff off of his chest," Gary said of the tough guy who could intimidate the entire room into silence when he walked in, never caused any trouble for the pub.

"The most important part of being a pub landlords is that they must truly care for their customers...they must care in a very real sense on a very personal level," Gary said about what his parents taught him about the bar business. "Because nobody goes to a bar for a drink. They go for conversation, for company...to cry on somebody's shoulders. And such is the path the bartender must walk."

For those who know Gary or at least have read his book, the message isn't new. Even in the age of bartending being sexy, with people trying out different techniques, new ingredients, old ingredients that are new by virtue of having been forgotten, Gary still preaches the importance of the customer and bartender relationship.

As Gary put it, it's not just about "making a great drink or creating a masterpiece," and that bartenders should remember, "He who chooses a life behind bars, chooses a life of service."