🍸 Bitter (bitter-tasting spirit drink)

A bitter-tasting spirit drink, or bitter, is a spirit drink with a predominantly bitter taste. Under EU Regulation 2019/787 (category 30) it is made by flavouring ethyl alcohol or a distillate of agricultural origin with flavouring substances or flavouring preparations, and its strength must be at least 15 % vol.

It may also be sold under the shorter name “bitter”, with or without another term. The same word is allowed for bitter-tasting liqueurs, even though in law a liqueur is a different category (33) with at least 100 g/l of sugar, or 80 g/l for liqueurs flavoured only with gentian, a similar plant or wormwood. So “bitter” on a bottle does not tell you whether the drink is sweet.

The category includes the protected geographical names Rheinberger Kräuter from Germany, Trejos devynerios from Lithuania and Slovenska travarica from Slovenia. Each has its own production rules set out in a specification.

A bitter should be told apart from its neighbours. Gentian spirit is an unflavoured distillate of fermented gentian roots, at least 37.5 % vol. Vermouth and “bitter aromatised wine” under Regulation 251/2014 are wines with added alcohol, not spirit drinks; the name of a bitter wine is followed by its main bitter-flavouring substance. In akvavit, by contrast, bitter substances must not obviously dominate, and the dry extract may not exceed 1.5 g per 100 ml.

Why it matters to you. The law sets only a 15 % vol. minimum, so the strength of different bitters can vary a lot – check the figure on the label. “Herbal” does not mean “healthy”: the EU bans health claims on drinks above 1.2 % vol. WHO: no safe level of alcohol exists.