Fratelli Branca Distillerie, Fernet-Branca (50ml)

The bartender's handshake, in a format small enough to live in your coat pocket. Fratelli Branca has been making Fernet-Branca in Milan since 1845, from a recipe of 27 herbs, roots and spices sourced across four continents — macerated, then rested in oak. What comes out is bracingly bitter, cooling with menthol, and shot through with saffron and bitter root; it tastes like nothing else on the back bar, which is exactly why people get evangelical about it. Drink it ice-cold as a digestivo after a heavy meal, or long over ice with cola for the classic Fernet con Coca. It's also the spine of a Hanky Panky and a Toronto. The 50ml is the perfect way to find out whether you're a Fernet person — and there's really no in-between.