Bitters are the unsung heroes of the cocktail world. These concentrated flavor extracts can elevate a drink from ordinary to extraordinary, adding depth, complexity, and balance. Whether you’re a seasoned mixologist or a home enthusiast, making your own bitters is a rewarding and creative way to personalize your cocktails. Here’s everything you need to know to get started.
Bitters 101: The Role of Bitters in Cocktails
Bitters are essentially the seasoning for your drinks, much like salt and spices are for food. They bring a burst of concentrated flavor that ties together the elements of a cocktail, enhancing its overall profile. From aromatic to citrusy, bitters can amplify sweetness, temper acidity, and add layers of complexity.
Bitterness in Taste and Evolution
Bitterness developed as an evolutionary defense mechanism, helping humans avoid toxic plants and substances. Over time, however, people discovered that many of these bitter elements—like herbs, bark, and roots—had medicinal properties. Early healers used them in teas, tinctures, and later, alcohol-based remedies.
Today, bitterness is less about survival and more about intrigue. A well-balanced bitter element in a whiskey cocktail can make us pause, consider, and take another sip. It challenges our palate, adding complexity and depth to the drinking experience.
What Are Bitters?
Bitters are concentrated infusions of botanicals, steeped in alcohol or glycerin to extract intense flavors and aromas. They are crafted from bittering agents—such as wormwood, cinchona, or orris root—alongside flavoring elements like fruit peels, spices, nuts, and coffee. The result is a powerful addition to cocktails, requiring just a few drops to enhance flavor and balance a drink.
A Brief History of Bitters
Bitters have long been linked to medicine, first consumed in teas and later in alcohol-based tinctures used by apothecaries. In the 1800s, bitters gained popularity as health tonics, with brands like Angostura and Peychaud’s emerging as both remedies and cocktail essentials. Peychaud’s bitters even played a role in creating the Sazerac, now a classic whiskey cocktail.
Bitters thrived until Prohibition, which wiped out most brands except Angostura and Peychaud’s. It wasn’t until the cocktail revival of the early 2000s that bitters made a resurgence, with craft producers bringing new varieties to the market.
Why Use Bitters in Whiskey Cocktails?
Bitters serve as the glue that holds a cocktail together, creating balance by counteracting sweetness and enhancing complexity. Since bourbon has natural caramel, vanilla, and fruit notes, bitters help refine the flavor profile, ensuring the drink isn’t overly sweet.
In a bourbon cocktail, bitters can:
- Harmonize flavors, much like a skilled host bringing people together at a party.
- Deepen complexity without adding extra sweetness or acidity.
- Provide contrast, making a whiskey-forward drink more layered and intriguing.
Whether in an Old Fashioned, a Manhattan, or a Sazerac, bitters are an essential ingredient that elevates a bourbon cocktail from simple to sophisticated.
The Three Primary Types of Bitters
Bitters come in a wide range of flavors, but most fall into three primary categories: aromatic, citrus, and spiced. Each type plays a unique role in crafting balanced and flavorful whiskey cocktails.
Aromatic Bitters
These are the backbone of classic cocktails and the most versatile type of bitters. Aromatic bitters typically have a deep, complex profile with a mix of warming spices, herbs, and roots. They often include ingredients like gentian root, cinnamon, clove, and allspice, along with layers of botanicals that add depth and character.
- Best used in: Spirit-forward cocktails like the Old Fashioned, Manhattan, and Boulevardier.
- Flavor profile: Spicy, herbal, slightly medicinal, with a lingering bitterness.
- Popular brands: Angostura, Peychaud’s, and Fee Brothers Old Fashioned Bitters.
- Why use them? They provide balance, round out sweetness, and enhance whiskey’s natural complexity.
Citrus Bitters
Bright and zesty, citrus bitters bring fresh, vibrant flavors to cocktails. They often feature orange, lemon, grapefruit, or lime peels combined with floral and herbal elements. These bitters are ideal for adding a refreshing, tangy lift to drinks, cutting through sweetness, and accentuating citrus-forward ingredients.
- Best used in: Whiskey Sours, Bourbon Smashes, and lighter whiskey cocktails.
- Flavor profile: Crisp, tangy, and slightly bitter with a hint of sweetness.
- Popular brands: Regan’s Orange Bitters No. 6, Scrappy’s Grapefruit Bitters, and Bitter Truth Lemon Bitters.
- Why use them? They enhance the natural citrus notes in whiskey and brighten up cocktails with a refreshing finish.
Spiced Bitters
These bitters are all about warmth and depth, often featuring rich baking spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and clove. They add a cozy, aromatic quality to drinks, making them particularly popular in fall and winter cocktails. Spiced bitters pair beautifully with bourbon’s caramel and vanilla notes, adding an extra layer of richness.
- Best used in: Holiday cocktails, Hot Toddies, and Old Fashioneds with a seasonal twist.
- Flavor profile: Warm, slightly sweet, and aromatic with deep spice notes.
- Popular brands: Fee Brothers Black Walnut Bitters, Bittermens Xocolatl Mole Bitters, and The Bitter Truth Jerry Thomas’ Own Decanter Bitters.
- Why use them? They add a festive touch to cocktails and amplify whiskey’s rich, toasty notes.
By understanding these three primary types of bitters, you can enhance your whiskey cocktails with depth, balance, and just the right amount of complexity.
How to Mix Your Own Bitters
Creating your own bitters allows you to tailor flavors to your preferences and experiment with unique combinations. Here’s a simple guide to crafting homemade bitters:
Ingredients Needed:
- A high-proof alcohol base, such as vodka or grain alcohol
- Aromatics: herbs, spices, fruits, or botanicals (e.g., orange peel, cloves, cinnamon)
- Bittering agents like gentian root, cassia, wild cherry bark or wormwood
Steps to Follow:
- Combine Ingredients: Place your chosen aromatics and bittering agents into a glass jar and cover with alcohol.
- Steep: Let the mixture steep for 2-4 weeks in a cool, dark place, shaking the jar daily.
- Strain: Strain the liquid through a fine mesh or cheesecloth.
- Bottle: Pour your bitters into dropper bottles for easy use and labeling. Label the bitters with the date (and recipe if you’ll want to repeat the process).
An Example: DIY Chocolate Bitters Recipe
This two week infusion creates a rich and complex bitters to use in your favorite whiskey cocktails.
Week one:
- 1 ½ cup high proof bourbon (100 proof or higher)
- 1 cup cacao nibs
- 1 vanilla bean, split
- 5 cardamom pods (optional)
After one week, add:
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 tablespoon gentian
- ½ tsp wormwood (optional)
- 1 tsp wild cherry bark (optional)
Add the first four ingredients in a clear glass jar, shake or stir each day for 1 week. At the end of the week, add in the remaining ingredients. We recommend putting the botanicals in a cheesecloth or tea bag to make them easier to strain out). Taste 4 days after adding the remaining ingredients. Let it infuse for up to 10 additional days. Strain out all botanicals when the flavor is rich and complex. Store in a dropper bottle indefinitely.
Crafting your own bitters is a fun and flavorful way to enhance your bourbon cocktails. With endless combinations of ingredients, the possibilities are as vast as your imagination. Cheers to experimenting and discovering your signature blend!