The Fernet Me Not No. 3 belongs to a small family of drinks sharing a name and a base spirit, Fernet-Branca. The first, created around 2013 by bartender Terry Cashman at Callooh Callay in Shoreditch, London, was a gin-and-cucumber Fernet fizz topped with prosecco; the second came from bartender Florian Minier at Haddington's American Tavern in Austin around 2012. This third version — Fernet-Branca, orgeat, and lime juice in equal parts, shaken and served up — is catalogued on Difford's Guide's directory without a credited bartender, bar, or date attached to it. Where its siblings carry names, this one doesn't, and we're not inventing one to fill the gap.
Bittersweet, nutty, and just sour enough to pass as a nightcap instead of a dare.
A Numbered Family, One Missing Name
Fernet-Branca digestif cocktails tend to cluster like this — a name gets reused as different bars riff on the same base spirit, and Difford's Guide catalogues each riff as its own numbered entry. No. 1 and No. 2 both have documented creators and bars attached. No. 3 doesn't: it appears on Difford's directory with its ingredients and technique listed, but no attributed inventor, no named bar, and no date beyond the general 2010s era its siblings come from.
That's the honest state of the record, not a gap we're papering over. Treat this one as a well-built, undocumented riff on a documented family — real drink, thin paper trail.
The Spec
Equal parts keeps it simple: Fernet-Branca for bitter backbone, orgeat for a nutty sweetness that tames it, and lime juice for the acid that keeps the whole thing in digestif territory rather than dessert.
Why Orgeat, Not Simple Syrup
Orgeat's almond note gives Fernet's menthol-and-saffron bitterness something round to lean on; plain sugar syrup would sweeten it without changing the texture. It's the same logic that makes orgeat work in a Mai Tai — bitter, spirit-forward ingredients need a fat-forward sweetener, not just a sweet one.
Equal Parts, Shaken Hard
No ingredient is built to dominate here — a hard shake with plenty of ice dilutes and chills all three components evenly, so no single note, bitter, nutty, or sour, runs away with the glass.
Bottom Line
An honest, well-balanced Fernet sour with no pedigree attached to this specific version. Take it on its own terms rather than its backstory.