Bitter beverage enthusiasts and Bay Area locals Max Rudsten and Ben Flajnik came together create the first San Francisco fernet and launched Fernet Francisco in 2015. Both had a beverage background and wanted to create a product that celebrated San Francisco’s love of fernet (the city drinks 25% of the US consumption of fernet and you will find more fernet on tap than anywhere else in the country). Master distiller–and biochemist, winemaker, and bartender–Farid Dormishian rounds out the team with his twenty years of experience. Like traditional Italian amaros, the trio will not reveal the full list of 12 local herbs, but will confirm that they use rhubarb, bay leaves, orange peels, and mint. Their distinct botanical list is macerated in local grape-based brandy and organic grain spirit.