Fernet Stock

The infusion is poured into oak barrels and aged. How many months? How many it is necessary, a trade secret. It is not easy to create a new original drink in our time, it is easier to borrow someone else’s recipe, hence the secrets. Citrus aroma comes from fruits from Brazil, Israel and the USA (Florida). It tastes like bitter balsams, but has a more pleasant taste, the color is bright ruby.

History of Bitter. The year of the start of production is 1884. The place of appearance is the city of Trieste. The author is Lionello Stock, at that time a subject of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. Interestingly, before the creation of the bitter, his company Camis & Stock promoted brandy of their brand. Stock’s partner was Carlo Camis.

“Fernet Stock” was produced during the First World War, and for some time after the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In 1927, in the Czech city of Bozhkov, Lionello Stock opened a new production of his drink.

His firm advertised its product very skillfully – on the radio. At the time, this was new.

In 1939, the Stock factory was taken over by the Nazis. With a Jewish entrepreneur, they did not stand on ceremony. He was lucky that he could be sent to the camp or killed. The stock factory was returned only after the liberation of Czechoslovakia. But only for a short time, since it was re-nationalized, but by the communists who had already come to power in the country. The popularity of the bitter “Fernet Stock” came in the sixties and seventies. Its rise is the years after the “velvet revolution” of 1989. In 1990–1997 there was a unique increase in sales of Fernet Stock – by 500%.

This bitter is considered the most popular drink in the Czech Republic. Of the 20 million liters of bitter herbal alcoholic beverages sold here annually, 14 million liters come from Fernet Stock. He is not only a sales leader. He is also a symbol of the country, like the good soldier Schweik, created by the imagination of Yaroslav Hasek. Very popular in Poland and neighboring Italy.