A Tasting of Cocktail Bitters
When determining the right bitters mix for an Old Fashioned, I realized it had been too long since I'd really tasted any on their own
As soon as you start making cocktails at home, you buy bitters. You probably buy too many of them. You read articles like this one promising that they’re the bartending equivalent to a spice cabinet and you jump in head-first. You probably take years to go through every bottle, if you ever get there.
That was me, and as much as I love bitters that experience has made me much more judicious in my application of them. That’s why it’s been so long since I’ve tasted bitters on their own, and I decided I needed to reacquaint myself with the category to develop the proper mix for my Old Fashioned. I selected 3 “standbys” for bottles that I’ve gone through many times to avoid recommending anyone buy something so specific that they’re likely to move that bottle to their next house.
Angostura Bitters
The OG. The GOAT. All deserved. The design itself should win awards (the oversize label is a relic of project management gone wrong), and the flavor is the archetype for he whole category of “aromatic bitters.” I get overwhelming flavor of cherry and wood, complimenting many of the flavors I like best in Bourbon. It’s also very spicy and super dry, giving it a medicinal quality (which makes sense, since it was initially marketed as medicine). The nose is quite orangey, though, hiding some of the complexity that comes through on the palate. It’s delicious, though way too much to actually drink on its own.
Orange Bitters
Yes, Angostura makes orange and chocolate bitters. And yes, they’re good. But for non-aromatic bitters I’ve never found any I prefer to Fee Brothers. The nose here is incredibly sour and gives way to perfume. On the palate it’s very heady, with some of that perfume dissipating into a pure, dry orange zest. It’s slightly sweet and generally tastes like if you were to take a bite out of a not-quite-ripe orange rind. Bracing, but tasty.
Chocolate Bitters
Another Fee Brothers expression, I’ve always loved this because of the chili they add whereas most chocolate bitters are more one note. This tastes like distilled Mexican hot chocolate in the best possible way, though not quite that sweet. The spice is pronounced on the finish once the bitter cacao leaves the palate. Add it to your actual hot chocolates and be amazed.
“Bartender’s Mix”
A trend early in the craft cocktail revolution was for a mix of aromatic, orange, and chocolate bitters to be used to add a complexity to classics that “normal” bars couldn’t match. I tested equal parts of the 3 bottles together, and I was shocked that it drank as a combinations of a single quality from each bitter all rolled together. The wood up front from the Ango, the dry orange zest on the palate, and the sweet and spicy finish from the chocolate all come through to create a very interesting, though not very cohesive, single sip of bitters. Think of it as an elevated college bar shooter and I think that gets close to the experience.