Built like a whiskey cocktail from the old school, but with a small, bold measure of Fernet-Branca. The bitter liqueur adds menthol, saffron-like spice and a dry, cooling finish to spicy rye.
2 oz
rye whiskey a Canadian rye or a spicy American ryee.g. Rittenhouse · Bulleit · Sazerac · Wild Turkey · Old Overholt
¼ oz
Fernet-BrancaBuy on Amazon →
¼ oz
simple syrup
2 dash
Angostura bittersBuy on Amazon →
Garnish: Orange twist · Ice: Served up, no ice
Toronto
Spicy rye up front, then a cooling wave of mint, herbs and bitterness, softened by a little sugar. Strong, dry and warming.
The drink first appears in print in Robert Vermeire's 1922 book Cocktails: How to Mix Them, under the name Fernet Cocktail, with a note that it was much appreciated by Canadians in Toronto. Whether it was actually created there is not known.
By the time David Embury published The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks in 1948, the recipe was listed as the Toronto, and that is the name that stuck. It belongs to the family of old-fashioned style whiskey cocktails, spirit sweetened and seasoned with bitters, and it found a new audience during the cocktail revival, when bartenders rediscovered Fernet-Branca as a mixing ingredient.
Nobody knows for sure. The earliest recipe, from 1922, only says it was popular with Canadians in Toronto.
You can, but it becomes a different drink; Fernet's strong menthol and bitterness are what define the Toronto.
Traditionally up in a chilled coupe or cocktail glass, but on a large ice cube works well too.
The perfect sound
Cool, dry and quietly bold.
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