🥃 Cocktail bitters

Cocktail bitters are very concentrated bitter tinctures of herbs, roots, bark, spices and citrus peel in strong spirit, more rarely in glycerine. They are not drunk by the measure but added to a cocktail by the dash, like salt or pepper in a dish. The best-known brands are Angostura and Peychaud’s.

Composition. According to Difford’s Guide, typical bitter ingredients are gentian root, cinchona bark and orange peel; cardamom, cloves, cinnamon and other spices are added. Brands usually keep their recipes secret. The strength is often high: the aromatic bitters Angostura is 44.7% ABV.

History. The first bitters were pharmacy remedies sold as digestive elixirs. In 1824 the German physician Johann Siegert created a bitters in the Venezuelan town of Angostura, which gave the drink its name; in 1875 production moved to Trinidad. On 13 May 1806 a New York newspaper first explained what a “cock-tail” is, and bitters were among its main ingredients.

At the bar. Bitters are the smallest bottles behind the counter, but there is no Old Fashioned, Manhattan or Sazerac without them. Bars once made their own bitters; today the practice is coming back, and alongside aromatic ones there are orange, chocolate and other flavours.

Why this matters to you. Although the doses are drops, cocktail bitters are a strong alcoholic product, not a non-alcoholic seasoning. People who completely avoid alcohol should know this. The WHO reminds us: there is no safe level of alcohol consumption.