Bitters and Some Definition
Originally serving as the cure-all (claims of healing indigestion, headaches, stomach cramps and constipation), you could say it was the original “snake oil.” I am not a doctor but I can see how bitters could be used to help with some basic illnesses much like your grandmother may have give you some Coke, ginger ale, or even a shot of whiskey to help too.
Today, much like in the 1700’s, bitters, used in cocktails, are a combination of high proof alcohol and the infusion of roots, barks, fruit peel, spice, herbs, flowers and other botanicals. Steeped for weeks at a time, the grain spirit draws out the flavors and bitter components out of the raw ingredients giving it distinct taste and when mixed in cocktails, the right balance to counteract the sweet.
The definition of cocktail as we now know it, is said to have first appeared in a Federalist newspaper in 1806 when the editor, responding to a reader’s letter about a previous article using the word “cock-tail” to describe a drink served to get voters ready in a political rally, wrote, “Cocktail is a stimulating liquor composed of spirits of any kind, sugar, water, and bitters – it is vulgarly called a bittered sling and is supposed to be an excellent electioneering potion, inasmuch as it renders the heart stout and bold, at the same time that it fuddles the head.”
Today most people consider a cocktail to be ANYTHING with booze and anything else added to it. The purists no better. A true cocktail is simply: spirit, sugar, water, and bitters.
Bitterness as a flavor (salt, sweet, etc.) is hard-wired in our taste-buds as a signal to our brain that something bad, possibly toxic, may be on its way. Obviously not in all forms as it is the bitterness in chocolate and coffee, and certain greens and herbs (radicchio being of one my favorites) that we actually like, even sometimes crave. So not all bitterness is bad (although if your heart is bitter toward someone else in your life…well that is something else entirely).
Cocktail bitters are typically used by adding “dashes” to your chosen beverage, usually 3-5 dashes for example, in an Old Fashioned or Manhattan, make the drink the legends that they are, otherwise both of these iconic beverages would be WAY TOO SWEET and generally unpalatable.
There are bitter beverages too. Liqueurs like Campari (Negroni), Fernet, Amaro, and Jagermeister, that are designed to sip, usually before or after dinner. You probably don’t want to sip on 2 ounces of Angostura for example, but you sure do want it in your Old Fashioned!
Iconic Brands
The two most familiar, if not most popular, brands of bitters are Angostura and Peychaud’s. In fact it is said these are the only two that survived prohibition. Angostura with their goofy over-sized label and yellow cap have been in every bar in the US if not the world since the late 1800’s.
Peychaud’s, the Orleans bitter, has made the Sazerac one of the world’s greatest cocktails for over 100 years. Use it anywhere you would use bitters, but for sure if you are making Sazeracs for your home happy hour.
Bitters Survival, then Revival
As there has been a whiskey renaissance, a bitters revival also has happened, especially in the past 15 or so years. Pre-prohibition, there were 100’s of different bitters brands, whittled down to two, and stayed that way until the 1950’s where Fee Bros introduced their now well-recognized (and delicious) citrus bitters. Now, in 2019, there are dozens and dozens of commercial brands again, not to mention all of the hobby/bar/home batch enthusiasts (like me) who have not only come to appreciate the history, but have now become obsessed with collecting, and in the case of the home-maker, searching far and wide for ingredients to give their bottles a uniqueness in their home liquor cabinet.
So if you like, give our little small-batch bitters a try and let us know how you like it?
