Finding the Right Manhattan Bitters

Can messing with bitters bring some red fruit back to the drink?

The thing that most feels missing in my current Manhattan construction is red fruit (strawberry, raspberry, maybe some cherry), but I think additions can fix that. Thus far, I’ve only included Angostura bitters in my recipe, and changing the bitters bill may change the drink for the better.

With just Angostura, the drink is just a bit too dry and lacks some deeper notes that I like in a Manhattan. I don’t want to replace the Ango, I want to amplify it.

Adding Aztec Chocolate Bitters

Chocolate and red fruit go together like peas in a pod, so I hoped that adding in some chocolate to the mix would bring out that pairing. And that’s mostly right - there’s definitely more cherry in this mix. But there’s no real chocolate notes, and there’s no spice (which I noted as a benefit when these made it into my Old Fashioned mix). So while I got what I wanted from this addition, there’s not as much of a jolt as I was hoping for. Directionally correct, just not quite right in magnitude.

Adding Orange Bitters

I noted in the standalone drink that citrus starts coming through but is a bit buried. I worried a bit that orange bitters would pump those up too much and make this a citrus drink, which I don’t want. those fears were unfounded, however; in fact, the orange bitters add more to the sweetness of the drink and help balance out the added zest. Like orange bitters often do, they really amp up the nose on this drink as well. And that nose isn’t pure orange - I think the early olfactory hit helps open up the drink on the palate in general.

The Winner: 2 dashes of Ango, 2 dashes or Orange

It’s not all the way there, but the added zest and sweetness drink brighter and more balanced to me. The drink opens up more, it’s not so stringent, and it holds up better as it dilutes. While the chocolate bitters give some additional fruit, I prefer the nose and brightness you get with the orange.

There’s one more addition I want to make before this thing goes final…