Bitters

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Not to be confused with a bitter, a type of British ale.
An old (1823) bottle of bitters from Germany. It was purchased for $1240 (USD) in 1998.[citation needed]

A bitters is an alcoholic beverage that contains herbal essences and citrus flavoring and has a bitter or bittersweet flavor. There are numerous brands of bitters, which were formerly marketed as patent medicines but are now considered to be digestifs rather than medicines.

Bitters are principally used as digestifs and as flavorings in cocktails. While bitters commonly have an alcoholic strength of up to 45%, they are normally consumed in small amounts, added as a flavoring agent (similar to vanilla flavoring, which is also dissolved in alcohol.) In the United Kingdom, Angostura bitters are not classified as alcoholic beverages due to their bitter taste and can be bought by a person of any age.

Contents

[edit] Ingredients

Common ingredients in bitters include angostura bark, cascarilla, cassia, gentian, orange peel, and quinine. The flavor of both Angostura bitters and Peychaud's bitters derives primarily from gentian, a bitter herb. Bitters are prepared by infusion or distillation, using aromatic herbs, bark, roots, and/or fruit for their flavor and medicinal properties.

Christopher Hobbs LAc, AHG author of Foundations of Health lists angelica root (A. archangelica), artichoke leaf (Cynara scolymus), bitter orange peel (Citrus aurantium), blessed thistle leaves (Cnicus bendicutus), gentian root (Gentiana lutea), goldenseal rhizome (Hydrastis canadensis), wormwood leaves (Artemisia absinthium) and yarrow flowers (Achillea millefolium) as typical contents of bitters formulas.

[edit] History

Angostura bitters was first compounded in Venezuela in 1824 by a German physician, who intended it as a remedy for stomach maladies. It was exported to England and to Trinidad, where it came to be used in a number of cocktails, following its medicinal use by the Royal Navy in Pink Gin. Angostura and similar gentian bitters can be of some value for settling a mild case of nausea. It is used to stimulate the appetite, either for food or for cocktails. Used in both apéritifs and digestifs, it will settle one's stomach before a meal or before a night of drinking.[citation needed]

Angostura bitters was named after the town of Angostura in Venezuela. It contains no angostura bark, a medicinal bark which is named after the same town.

It is used as the "starter" ingredient in a Pink Gin, where a splash (or two) of Angostura Bitters is swirled around the inner surface of a tumbler before adding a generous measure of Plymouth Gin. The resulting drink is so named from the colour imparted by the Bitters. In addition to the options of drinking a Pink straight, it may also be consumed with a little water, still or sparkling. Real connoisseurs of the Pink Gin even have preference for drinking it "in" or "out" - referring to whether the remaining dribble of Bitters (after the glass has been "pinked") is left in or poured away, before the Gin is added.[citation needed]

A large tumbler, similarly "pinked", and filled with sparkling lemonade, results in a drink known as a Campbell. This is regarded by some as a pleasant and refreshing way to relieve a little of the sweetness of lemonade; the same drink with added lime cordial is called "lemon, lime and bitters" in Australia, and is available both as a mixed drink in bars and as a ready-made bottled soft drink.[1]

Peychaud's bitters is associated with New Orleans, Louisiana, and the Sazerac cocktail. It, too, is a gentian-based bitters, with a subtly different and sweeter taste than the Angostura brand.

Orange bitters are made from the rinds of unripe oranges. Orange bitters are often called for in older cocktail recipes.

Medicinal quantities of quinine were occasionally used in old cocktail recipes. Quinine is still found in much lower concentrations in tonic water, used today mostly in drinks with gin.

The oldest and rarest of antique bottles command prices of tens of thousands of dollars.

[edit] Brand names

This 1883 advertisement promised help with all sorts of ailments.

Some brands of bitters that are available today:

[edit] Other brands or types

  • Appenzeller (from Switzerland)
  • Boker's
  • Calisaya bitters (containing cinchona/quinine)
  • Hartwig-Kantorowicz (from Germany)
  • Hostetter's (American)
  • Kabänes (from Germany)
  • Kina Lillet
  • Maraschino bitters
  • Meinhard's Bitters Dr. Teodoro Meinhard's Angostura Bitters (From Venezuela)
  • Meyer's Bitter (from Germany)
  • Flimm's (from Germany)
  • Reichs-Post Bitter (from Germany)
  • West Indies
  • New York (Australian)
  • Boston (Australian)
  • St Louis (Australian)
  • Frisco (Australian)
  • Lupulins (Australian)
  • Dr Grants (Australian)
  • Philadelphia (Australian)
  • Kent (Australian)
  • Dixons (Australian)
  • Milwaukee (Australian)
  • Gippsland (Australian)
  • Utica (Australian)
  • Steanes (Australian)
  • Ralays (Australian)
  • Bairnsdale (Australian)
  • McDonalds (Australian)

[edit] Nonalcoholic bitters

Although almost all bitters contain alcohol, a few nonalcoholic brands have been produced:

  • Bradley's Bitters
  • Chinò
  • Fanta Chinotto (made from Chinotto)
  • Sanbittèr
  • Stirrings Blood Orange

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitters"
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