A bitters thread

Hey, is there a bitters thread? If not, we should have one. I’m a little clueless other than angostura. I’d like suggestions on good bitters and good matches for various cocktails.

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Good idea! I just heard about a hibiscus bitters that peaked my interest, for an Old Fashioned, actually.

I’m about to try some bitters from an up-and-coming tiny company in Sonoma soon, will report back

So, if one were to stray from Angostura Bitters for Manhattans or Old Fashions, what else would one buy?

Todd, did you find the hibiscus yet?

Michael, there are tons of really cool craft bitters out there. 18*21 has some great ones. They make the hibiscus. Regan’s is great, Scrappys makes some cool ones as well. there’s about 100 that look worth trying.

But what specifically would you use for Manhattans or Old Fashions? That is where I freeze up. I see so many “craft” bitters. I do not want to buy something I won’t use.

I am a big big fan of Dashfire bitters - I only use the Dashfire Old Fashioned bitters for an old fashioned and I highly recommend the Dashfire J Thomas Decanter bitters for a Manhattan. The Dashfire orange bitters is also my favorite orange bitters.

Outside of Dashfire, I’ve also had consistently great experiences with the Bitter Truth lineup.

My worst bitters experience has been the Fee Brothers Celery bitters - I found them absolutely vile. I replaced the bottle with the Bitter Truth celery bitters.

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By far and away, my favorite producer of bitters is Miracle Mile. I use their Forbidden Bitters for Manhattans

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While I really don’t make mixed drinks all that often, I like orange bitters in Manhattans. Fee Brothers is what I have on hand.

My basic recommendations would be to have Angostura, Angostura Orange, and Peychaud’s. You could use any of these in any combination for the basic Whiskey drinks. I like the Angostura Orange because it’s pretty pure, so very handy if I don’t happen to have a real orange to peel or slice. It’s not too bitter on its own so I usually use it along with something else. Peychaud’s has a licorice flavor so it’s classic in a Sazerac, but you can use it in place of or in addition to Angostura if you like that flavor.

I have dozens of others. As Mike said, Miracle Mile is excellent and their Forbidden is a great choice for Manhattans or Old Fashioneds. I use it more than anything else.

Some other great ones are Owl & Whale Sea Smoke (use anywhere a smoke aroma would go well) and Miracle Mile Aperitivo (like a concentrated Campari).

K&L brought in a line called The Japanese Bitters a few months ago. They are expensive but addictive: Yuzu, Shiso and Umami. The Yuzu and Shiso are very pure expressions of those things, and the Yuzu is much better than Miracle Mile’s version. The Umami is great but needs to be used carefully, like a small pinch of salt.

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Another fun Dashfire bitters is Mr. Lee’s Ancient Chinese Secret. I went through mine and need to get another.

Me, too. Love Miracle Mile, love Louis (the guy who makes them) and have accumulated a number of his bitters over the years, none of which get used as much as the Forbidden.

I also love Scrappy’s Caradmom for more aromatic G&T’s and Cocktail Punk’s Smoked Orange in spritzes and negronis.

Bittermens is another very good line.

I bought some Bitter Truth celery bitters and it’s awful for my taste. I never found a good use for it. What do you use it in?

You know, bitters are something that you can experiment with. Also, Old Fashions are so versatile; there are so many takes on them. I make a drink that is 2 parts Bulleit, 1 part Cointreau, 6 dashes of Regans orange bitters and lemon twist. Shake it hard and serve it in a martini glass. My friend and I wanted an old fashioned the other day. Couldn’t drive to get all ingredients. Used a beautiful Belle Meade Bourbon, a dropper full of hibiscus bitters from 18*21, and a spoonful of water and powdered sugar mix, served in OF glass with ice. It was so tasty! I have made them since. The other night I made one with high end cherries, orange and citrus bitters and one dash of lavender bitters. Think I used Belle Meade again and a dash of the cherry syrup. No sugar of simple. They were excellent and took a few tries to get the bitters drops right. But the aromatics and flavor were perfect. That was in a glass w ice again.

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Charlie, sounds great. But I would be stirring rather than shaking.

+1 Scrappy’s Caradmom (use it sparingly, and surprisingly good in a perfect manhattan)
Scrappy’s Black Lemon is my latest toy and very versatile
El Guapo Bitters Holiday Pie is great in Black Manhattan’s or with Averna in any cocktail
The Bitter Truth Grapefruit is great with my gins and vodka drinks

Bittermen’s is a great line. I love the Xocolatl Mole in a Manhattan.

Also use Fee Brothers Molasses Bitters in OF.

I’m exclusively Rye for Manhattans and bourbon for Old Fashioneds.

I like black walnut bitters in a Manhattan as it cuts the sweetness of the Vermouth. While I am sure that there are better options, I use Fee Brothers (I know, shame me), which is cheap and fine for the purpose. Once in a while I’ll throw in Angostura or Regans’ Orange Bitters. I find the Regan’s to be a bit more complex/brighter (like orange zest) than the Ango, but the Ango seems to have more depth.

In an Old Fashinoned, I think nearly everything is fair game. I’ve used all of the above, though I tend to use Ango. Scrappy’s Cardamom Bitters is an interesting twist.

And of course, there’s nothing wrong with throwing in a mix of bitters – I do that often with the Ango/Regan’s or Ango/black walnut (I think the Regan’s gets a bit overwhelmed by the black walnut). Cardamom + orange bitters of any sort also pairs well.

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Surprised no one has mentioned tobacco bitters.

I’ve made a few batches personally. It’s fairly easy but you do need to be careful to not over do it as it can be dangerous.

Dashfire is awesome. I used to sell them. Lee is a cool dude. He’s based in MN, if you’re in the midwest you should also be looking for his great canned cocktails. Unfortunately they don’t come to NY. I think you can get them in MA.

The whole knock on Fee Brothers is that they use a different type of extraction process utilizing glycerin instead of ethanol. Most bartenders I know aren’t fond of them. They’re from Rochester though so they do have a following in NY.

I have a pretty good supply of old Dashfire samples so I am not going to be buying bitters for a while.

Interesting. I didn’t know this, but then again, there’s a lot I don’t know about bitters. I have a few others in the cupboard but aside from Angostura, I really haven’t used them much…some of them aren’t even open:

Angostura
Scrappy’s Smoked Pear & Ginger
SLO Bitter Co. Sarsparilla Bitters (I’ve played with this one a little…makes for an unusual angle on things)
Hella Aromatic
Hella Citrus

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