Angostura Aromatic Bitters

Old Elk Whiskey Sour 

Old Elk Bourbon Whiskey. Lemon juice. Egg white. Sugar syrup. Bitters

Bitters. Always the last ingredient rounding out your favourite cocktails on the drinks menu, never the first. Just what are bitters, and why do so many cocktails have them? Do they simply make a drink taste… bitter, or do they do more than that? Are they even necessary? 

We’ll stop you right there – bitters are not merely necessary, they are essential to creating the most complex, layered, and aromatic cocktails. Here’s why. 

 

All You Need To Know About Bitters

Like many other types of alcohol, bitters actually started out as medicine in the 1700s. They are typically made with bitter botanicals, such as cinchona bark, gentian, wormwood, etc, which are macerated and steeped in a strong spirit – usually rum. While bitter-tasting, these botanicals are incredibly aromatic, and serve as the perfect canvas to showcase a range of flavours and aromas, including but not limited to citrus, flowers, tea, spices, leather, smoke, anything you can think of. 

But don’t be fooled by these tantalizing scents! Bitters taste as bitter as they sound, and are not meant to be consumed on their own. Rather, they are intended to add fragrance and flavour to a cocktail, giving it more depth and complexity. Think vanilla essence in baking – it has similar alcohol content to bitters, but you wouldn’t drink it, would you? 

While there are innumerable flavoured bitters, from orange and angelica to even walnut, aromatic bitters remain in high demand due to their versatility. Of which Angostura Aromatic Bitters is the bar to which all other bitters are compared.

 

Angostura: The King of Aromatic Bitters

Created by Dr. Johann Gottlieb Benjamin Siegert, a medic in the Prussian army who battled Napoleon (the one and only), and later a Surgeon General in Simon Bolivar's army in Venezuela, what is now known as an aromatic bitter was actually intended to be a remedy for seasickness and stomach problems – good medicine tastes bitter, as they say! 

 

The Secret of Angostura

To this day, the recipe of Angostura Aromatic Bitters remains a closely guarded secret. And they’re not playing around: it is known only to five people in the entire world who’ve vowed never to hop on a plane together, or even dine together. The original recipe, made in 1824, is believed to be safeguarded in a New York bank. On the Caribbean islands of Trinidad and Tobago where the bitters are produced, the brand has secured permission to slip their raw ingredients through customs without inspection. 

Befitting the House of Angostura’s secrecy and mystique is also the bottle’s oversized label. Fun fact – it was simply the result of a typography error. However, the unusual look generated so much interest and intrigue that the company decided to keep it. And it was a good thing they did, because the oversized label has now become iconic to Angostura’s best-selling Aromatic Bitters. 

 

Salt In the Kitchen, Angostura In the Bar

All that effort into keeping its recipe secret, and we completely understand why – Angostura Aromatic Bitters is damn near perfect. On its own, taste the warm and spicy notes of cinnamon and cardamom, as well as earthy notes of gentian root alongside a predominantly bitter body. 

The perfect bitter for almost any cocktail, Angostura Aromatic Bitters add just enough perfume and kick to a tipple without overwhelming its other ingredients.

Which is why mixologists often compare it to salt in the kitchen, stating merely, “A chef can do many things with rosemary, but they can’t do a single thing without salt.” If everything behind the bar is a mixologist’s herbs and spices, Angostura Aromatic Bitters, then, is salt. And they can’t do a damn thing without it. 

To see how essential they are to rounding off your cocktails, why not challenge yourself, and try your favourite cocktail with and without bitters? We promise you’ll taste the difference.

 

Bitter is Better

Angostura Aromatic Bitters are not merely for mixologists at bars, they make a great addition to home bars too! Enjoy our free alcohol delivery services (for all orders $99 and above), and upgrade those homemade cocktails with a dash of bitters. Choose us as your preferred liqueur delivery service today!