Cocktail Chat-Bitters

Bitters today

So if you've landed here from the link in the Martinez entry, you know that this Cocktail Chat is a result of the research I had to do to find out exactly what Boker's bitters are.  In doing so, I thought I'd also post some interesting cocktail trivia about bitters in general given they're such the rage these days.  

If you've spent any time in a trendy drinking establishment lately, you know that bitters are the hipster fetish du jour.  You can see evidence of the fad in even the most bare bones liquor stores.  Not long ago, Angostura bitters would be all you found, with Peychaud or orange bitters -- if you were lucky -- in the more "withit" shops.  Now you can walk into almost any liquor store and find shelves of bitters ranging from Aztec chocolate to "Tiki" -- whatever the hell that would be.  From the sublime to the ridiculous.  Gotta love a trend.

In general, bitters are infusions of herbs, spices, roots, and fruits with alcohol. They started out in the 19th century as tinctures and marketed for their purported health benefits.  Eventually, their use migrated to the mixological arts where they became exceedingly popular in drinking culture.  The lighter ones would be mixed with soda alone and served with ice.  Stronger ones were used in accents in more complex cocktails.  Their use in a beverage was the mark of elevated cocktailing and a bartender who knew what he was doing.  But, between the FDA lowering the boom on unproven medicinal claims and Prohibition, bitters were largely wiped out until only a few years ago.  Until the recent trend, Angosturas were the only kind available.

Sidebar: I for one, can testify to the curative powers of Angostura bitters.  Once, while out with friends in a crowded happy hour bar, I got a most debilitating and frustrating case of the hiccups.  I was the stereotypical drunk, sitting on my bar stool, wracked with intermittent convulsions accompanied by that telltale chirp that could be heard over the din of the bar.  My drink would slosh out of the glass if one hit while I was holding it, they were that bad.  I wasn't even drunk, for Pete's sake!  Embarrassed and uncomfortable, I was about to leave when the bartender approached me.  He saw me getting ready to take off when he motioned for me to sit.  He leaned over the bar:  "Hiccups?"

"Yeah."

He put his palm up to me in a sign to wait a moment.  His hands disappeared below the bar, working something in the well.  A moment later he slid a cocktail napkin across the bar to me.  On it was a lemon wheel with some amber liquid soaking into the top of it.

"Eat the whole thing.  Rind and all."

I did.  And as sure as I'm sitting here, the instant that thing hit my stomach I felt my diaphragm relax.  "What was that?"  I shouted.
"Lemon & bitters.  Works every time."  Cured, I didn't have another spasm the rest of the night.  To this day it's my go-to remedy for singultus!

Bitters bottles from back in the day

Back to my research on Boker's.  As it turns out, they were produced by a company in New York.  With Prohibition, the company went belly up nearly a century ago.  Just recently a bottle was found still holding a small portion of the stuff which was characterized by notes of cardamom, cassia, and bitter orange peel.  Sounds pretty good, in fact.  With renewed interest in classic cocktails and the bitters craze, a company has reconstructed Boker's.  They are available from Dr. Adam Elmegirab's Boker's Bitters.

With all the different flavors out there, the wrong variety can significantly alter the taste of a drink.  However, the difference between a cocktail with and without them is noticeable.  As an accent, only a few drops add all kinds of dimension.  A simple comparison:  Make two Manhattans, one with and one without.  Do a side-by-side taste test.  You will see the difference and will never want a bitters-less Manhattan again!