bitters – FoodWatcher

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3 Small-Batch Bitters for Better Cocktails (& Desserts, Too)

One of the things my partner and I used to argue about was who should take out the recycling. His case was that because I blew through cans of seltzer like a grumpy sponge, the onus should fall on me to drag our bin downstairs whenever it was full. I mean, sure, totally fair. Except he still ended up being the one to do it (mea culpa, honey). His solution: surprising me with a water carbonator and a gift certificate to our local cocktail supply shop, which boasts a selection of more than 100 different bitters.

We picked an afternoon to go together and, since this was pre-COVID, we got to taste as many different bitters as we liked. Although it was a little overwhelming at first, we quickly narrowed in on a few companies that, no matter the flavor, outshined the rest with their thoughtful and meticulous craftsmanship. Whether you’re looking to spruce up your own bar, or looking for gifts for that cocktail aficionado in your life, these are our favorite small-batch bitters producers.

Rob Roy

The Rob Roy cocktail was said to be invented at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York City, named after a Scottish outlaw in the 1700s, who later became a folk hero. The drink named for him is the drier cousin to the Manhattan, using blended Scotch whisky in place of the rye or bourbon. Unlike single-malt scotch, blended scotch is made from barley as…

The Rob Roy cocktail was said to be invented at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York City, named after a Scottish outlaw in the 1700s, who later became a folk hero. The drink named for him is the drier cousin to the Manhattan, using blended Scotch whisky in place of the rye or bourbon. Unlike single-malt scotch, blended scotch is made from barley as well as other grains and is usually only lightly peated, so it has less of the smoky flavors that are a feature of many single-malt scotch whiskies.

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The Greenpoint Cocktail

A simple cocktail, riffing off the Brooklyn cocktail, as well as its other-borough cousins, the Bronx and the Manhattan, the Greenpoint boasts a double-dose of French inspiration and influences.
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A simple cocktail, riffing off the Brooklyn cocktail, as well as its other-borough cousins, the Bronx and the Manhattan, the Greenpoint boasts a double-dose of French inspiration and influences.

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Bronx Cocktail

Not as famous as its “other borough” cousin, the Manhattan, the Bronx is a fruitier, lighter alternative to the rough-and-tumbler whiskey-based cocktail. However one sip and you may find yourself visiting the Bronx a little more often!
Con…

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Pegu Club

Invented in Burma, at a British club called the Pegu Club, this tropically-tinged cocktail found its way into the Savoy Cocktail Book. It’s pleasantly tangy and fruit-forward. The ingredients come together in the glass, resulting in a savvy cock…

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The Hanky Panky

The golden age of cocktails happened during prohibition. (So it seemed to have the reverse effect.) During that time, people made their own liquors underground, like bathtub gin, and since the taste wasn’t exactly up to snuff, a good number of cocktails were concocted so that the taste of the main alcohol could be hidden under a few layers of various other mixers. Continue Reading…

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Vieux Carre cocktail

This post was originally published in 2013, which I updated and revised. It’s part of an online “L’heure d’apéro” or Happy Hour that I’ve been doing on Instagram Live on my IGTV channel most evenings at 6pm Paris time (which currently is 1pm ET, 10am PT) where I’m making a favorite cocktail live in my kitchen and responding to reader’s comments while I mix and shake. (The videos get archived on my Instagram page in my Stories, which are available to watch up to 24 hours afterward, and in my Feed, which are there indefinitely.

In the live videos I’m also talking about French spirits, a few of which are used in this cocktail, the Vieux Carré. I’ve brought this cocktail post up to the top here on the blog, and I’ll be bringing others up others, as well as sharing other types of recipes that I hope you’ll find helpful during this time when many of us are housebound. (Tonight, March 26th, I’ll be making the Jasmin Cocktail if you want to tune in. Thanks! – David

A Vieux Carré is supposed to have Peychaud’s bitters in it. It was at the tippy top of my shopping list when I wanted to make this cocktail. I had the rye whiskey in spades, as well as the other ingredients, but the bitters eluded me.

But I went to four liquor stores that specialize in cocktail liquors and spirits in Paris and three didn’t have it. And the fourth was inexplicably closed for some sort of fermeture exceptionnelle. There was no sign, no nothing, so I don’t know. I peered through the darkened windows to see if they had the bitters on any of the shelves but couldn’t get a glimpse of the bitters selection, so went home empty-handed.

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Weekend Links

I’ve been scrambling to get caught up on, well…everything. Included on my sizable to-do list is a rather long blog post that’s hopefully going to be worth the wait. (Ya never know…) There are also a few tech issues behind-the-scenes here on the blog that need tending to, even though I’d rather be baking. There is…or was…a cashew brittle recipe that didn’t quite work out as anticipated (unless you don’t mind a few cracked fillings), as well as cake recipe I started for the blog, only to find later in the recipe that one of the ingredients should be prepared a year in advance (so mark your calendars for Ferbuary 2021.) There’s also my new book coming out in two weeks, visitors in town, emails to answer, a short get-away planned, bread to buy, and wine to drink.

Anyways, while I’m waiting for my identical twin to arrive, here are some interesting links for you to chew on in the meantime…

-Looking back at some shockingly misogynist Angostura ads (Punch)

-Who is the pastry chef behind the Bob’s Red Mill recipes? (Taste)

-What’s the deal with the different covers UK vs. US cookbook covers, for the same books? (Epicurious, h/t Smitten Kitchen)

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Homemade Orange Bitters

Bitters are used in a number of cocktails. Even if you can’t strongly perceive them while you’re sipping your drink, like salt, lemon zest, and vanilla, bitters are used to balance the flavors in the glass, providing a gentle undernote to bolster or as a contrast to flavors, rather than domineering or taking center stage. When writing Drinking French* I kept in mind that most…

When writing Drinking French* I kept in mind that most people either didn’t have access to a wide variety of bitters, or didn’t want to amass a line-up of little bottles of bitters at home just to make one cocktail. Although sometimes, a certain bitter does make a difference. So a few times, I nudged readers who might want to expand their flavor horizons towards a particular bitter, such as eucalyptus or salted chocolate. But in the overall picture, I like to give choices when writing a recipe in a book, so as many people ca make it as possible.

My fallback bitters are orange and aromatic (Angostura) because I wanted to make sure to use ones that people could easily find. Heck, I’ve even seen Angostura being sold in French supermarkets, as well as at Target stores in the U.S. So there’s really not that much of a barrier to getting your hands on a bottle.

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