Let’s talk about cocktail bitters. They’re a mixture of alcohol, botanicals and water that bartenders add to drinks for just a pinch of balance — if the cocktail is going to be sweet, for instance, just a couple of drops of bitters provides a complementary element of, well, bitterness.
During the recent upsurge in craft cocktails, bitters have also been making a bit of a comeback, with more now available on the market than simply Angostura, the name associated the most with bitters. (Peychaud’s is another popular one.)
One such example of a newly arrived brand is the Austin-based Bad Dog Bar Craft’s line of three bitters, Fire and Damnation, Sarsaparilla and Bloody Mary. Another is bartending great Dale DeGroff’s Aromatic Bitters, which he said enhances cocktails without overpowering them. Each will have their own ingredient list with different ratios, so they’ll range from being overwhelmingly bitter to not-so-bitter to having notes of cinnamon and vanilla or a far more floral finish. The possibilities aren’t quite endless, but they do mean to be careful when selecting what bitters to use in certain cocktails.
Try this Dickel Ginger Smash with Angostura first; then, try another brand of bitters and discern how the flavor of the drink has changed (or if it has at all). The Ginger Smash, a slightly tart, slightly sweet cocktail in which ginger’s soft bite brings out the rye’s bold body, needs the balancing element of bitters to be the refreshing drink that it is.
Dickel Ginger Smash
1.3 oz. George Dickel Rye
3 oz. Ginger Ale
2 dashes of Angostura bitters
3 Lime wedges
3 sprigs of mint
Build and serve.
— Contributed by Joseph Clarkson
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