"bitters" news and stories

No bar can be complete without them (heck, for my money, no bartender can be complete without them). Every bar has at least one bottle stashed somewhere, and more and more, the hallmark of great bars and bartenders proudly displays at least a half-dozen, not including ones they've made themselves. Each variety lends a complexity impossible to find anywhere else and almost always elevate each cocktail into something special.

So what, exactly, are bitters, and why are they so important? Well, first, there are two kinds, potable and nonpotable. Potable bitters generally double as digestifs, something you drink after dinner. Fernet-Branca and Campari are two famous examples of potable bitters. The ones we're talking about here are nonpotable (which means they're not meant to be consumed on their own). Bitters are, in general, made from a witches-brew combination of herbs and citrus blended with alcohol, and were intended as remedies for all sorts of ailments, particularly those involving the stomach. Why are they important? A friend of mine and master bartender, Jamie Boudreau, likens bitters to how a chef utilizes salt, as essential an ingredient as there is in any kitchen. Each type of bitters available lends it's own unique characteristics to a cocktail.

For the sake of introduction of these products, we're going to limit the flavor wheel to the three most common.

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Can you help me name a cocktail? I'm looking for suggestions for a cocktail that was created recently. In many ways it is similar to several other recipes, but as far as I can tell it is unique enough to need a name.

A few weeks ago I was sitting at the bar at Bookmarks, the rooftop bar/patio/lounge in the Library Hotel near Grand Central Station in NYC. I was chatting to The Cocktail Guru, Jonathan Pogash as he ran back and forth mixing around a dozen of more drinks a minute for the eager crowds of Friday post-work partiers. Jonathan Pogash is a VIP in the cocktail world where he consults, is the Director of Cocktail Development for Hospitality Holdings, who own and operate some of the most prestigious cocktail bars in NYC, such as The Campbell Apartment, The Carnegie Club, Bookmarks Lounge, and The World Bar. He also assists Gary Regan of Ardent Spirits, the famed writer and cocktailian. Several days a week Jonathan can be found behind the bar at The World Bar and Bookmarks where he makes a mean cocktail; either classic / traditional or new ones he personally designs.

I had tried some of each of his new cocktail creations; and his versions of the old, traditional drinks; when I had a whim to ask for something to be custom made for me. I wanted something traditional in taste, but with a tasty twist. I wanted the flavor of whiskey deep and complex; with hints of sweet, bitter, and fruit. A drink I could sip on for a long time where each one was better than the last.

With the holidays upon us I want to look at some libations that can be used to stimulate your appetite, perk up holiday cocktails, and settle down your stomach after a little overindulgence at the groaning banquet boards.

Bitters, Digestifs, and Apéritifs (BD&A's) are similar to Liqueurs, but much bitterer in taste and usually without the extra sweetness to them. Like Liqueurs, BD&A's were originally created as medicines made from herbs, roots, twigs, vegetables, fruits, and berries. To lessen the harsh taste they were sweetened, just not as much as their cousins, liqueurs. There is not always a hard and fine line between Bitters, Digestifs, Apéritifs, and Liqueurs, and some can be classified in one, two, three, or all four categories.

Bitters come in several styles and many were formerly sold as patent medicines. There are the ones like Angostura Bitters from Trinidad, and New Orleans's Regan's Orange Bitters and Peychaud's Bitters which are used in small amounts, added to a cocktail to bring together the flavors and cut the sweetness. Then you have ones that are sold in tiny, 2/3 oz bottles such as Underberg from Germany, which you knock back in a quick gulp after a meal to settle your quaking belly. Many others I also classify under apéritifs and digestifs when you cut them with seltzer and ice.

Now that tax day - April 15th - is safely behind us, it's time to celebrate a little. Even if you don't feel like celebrating, at least have a drink and allow yourself to remember that you won't have to do this again for another year. Courtesy of the Wall Street Journal, here's a recipe thats perfect for the occasion:

Income Tax Cocktail
1 oz. gin
3/4 oz. fresh orange juice
1/4 oz. dry vermouth
3/4 oz. sweet vermouth
dash of bitters

Combine and shake with ice. Strain into a cocktail glass and serve with an orange wedge (or a cherry) and a sigh of relief.

[Image Liquor World, where there is a slightly different recipe]