angostura bitters

The aptly named cocktail of times past, recently re-popularized by television’s Don Draper:

1 1/2 oz. Bourbon or rye whiskey

1 sugar cube

5 or 6 vigorous dashes of Angostura bitters

Muddle the sugar and bitters at the bottom of an old-fashioned glass, put ice and whiskey on top, serve with a cherry, orange slice, and anything else you might feel like adding.

As previously noted, there was a time when “cocktail” referred specifically to this basic recipe: spirit + sugar + bitters. In America, whiskey cocktails would be the preferred mix, though in Wisconsin the state drink is the Brandy Old-Fashioned, which uses the same recipe but with brandy as the spirit. Two-hundred years ago that drink would have been called a “brandy cocktail.”

The first printed definition of the word “cocktail” gives evidence of this fact, and is otherwise fairly awesome. It is from a paper named The Balance, from 1803:

Cocktail is a stimulating liquor composed of spirits of any kind, sugar, water, and bitters—it is vulgarly called a bittered sling and is supposed to be an excellent electioneering potion, inasmuch as it renders the heart stout and bold, at the same time that it fuddles the head. It is said, also to be of great use to a Democratic candidate: because a person, having swallowed a glass of it, is ready to swallow anything else.

Sante!

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I posted the Perfect Martini recipe the other week. It’s still my favorite drink, though I’ve since started enjoying the Pink Gin.

Fan of our blog, Marsha, commented that she had been unable to locate orange bitters, for which the recipe calls, and instead substituted the easier to locate Angostura bitters.

We just had to compare what we normally drink to what Marsha made.  Our friends Nicole and Anthony–perfect martini newbies–came along for the ride.

We made two almost matching perfect martinis with each type of bitters and passed them around.  We used our favorite orange bitters, Regans #5 Orange.

Will noted that he didn’t taste the presence of the Angostura as strongly as he tastes the orange bitters, and that he thought the Angostura made the gin taste more crisp.

I noted that the Angostura version was not as bad as I had feared it would be, but noticed that the orange bitters better rounded out the flavors of the sweet vermouth and gin.

Nicole noticed the juniper aroma of the drinks and could not recall having smelled a plant in acocktail before. She thought that the orange bitters version had a sweet, earthy note not enjoyed in the Angostura version.

Anthony didn’t find the martinis to his liking, instead preferring what we had next: Will’s original cocktail creation the Santa Rosa.  A cocktail garnished with cilantro–the perfect apertif!

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The Manhattan

by Will on January 8, 2011

  • 1 1/2 oz. bourbon, rye, or Canadian whiskey
  • 3/4 oz. sweet vermouth
  • 2 dashes Angostura bitters

Stir ingredients in ice, serve straight up with a cherry

Many in the cocktail set say that this should only properly be made with an American whiskey. I think such narrow provincialism has no place in the modern world, and generally use Canadian Club. But I’ve also had great success using Old Overholt rye whiskey. And there are many good bourbons on the market these days.

Salut!

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The In the Money

by Will on January 3, 2011

  • 1 shot Ile de Re French cognac
  • 1 dash Chartreuse
  • 3 dashes Benedictine
  • 1 dash Angostura bitters
  • Top off with champagne

To celebrate the passing of that crappy and character-building year we had, and to hope for a future with more prosperity!

Named for Busby Berkeley’s number, “We’re in the Money.”

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Any Cocktail That Can Be Made, Will

by Will on December 29, 2010

ReadyMade blog suggests that we make this cocktail:

Hoitoi

* 2 oz. dry gin
* 3/4 oz. grapefruit juice
* 1/4 oz. Campari
* 2 oz. champange
* Angostura bitters

Gin and grapefruit juice? And Campari? In the winter? And bitters to boot? And champagne?!

We may just have to try this, before 2010 has expired.

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The Pink Gin

by Will on December 1, 2010

In England, this is a traditional Christmas drink. I tried it the first time about a year ago at a bar, but it wasn’t until I made it for myself that it won me over. It’s a pretty serious drink, for those already well versed in gin and Angostura.

1 1/2 oz. gin (I’d recommend Hendrick’s gin or something else with spicy, as opposed to floral, overtones)

Several dashes Angostura bitters

Stir on ice, serve straight up in a cocktail glass.

This drink has its origins in the coastal cities of England and its colonies, two centuries ago. Seamen, in pubs while on shore, would take the drink as a general curative. Gin was supposed to be a remedy for numerous illnesses, from the plague to gout. Angostura bitters, meanwhile, were and are an effective means of combating stomach sickness.

Sante!

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The Rob Roy

by Will on September 7, 2010


If I could only ever have one single cocktail, it would be the Rob Roy.

1 1/2 oz. Scotch
3/4 oz. sweet vermouth
2 generous shakes of Angostura bitters
Serve on the rocks in an old-fashioned glass
This drink is the Manhattan’s mellower cousin. It was invented shortly after Dewar’s Scotch whiskey started being distributed in the US to the general public. Before that it was only rye, bourbon, and maybe Canadian whiskey. Coincidentally, there was, around the same time, a successful Broadway production of Walter Scott’s novel, Rob Roy.
As with Bonnie and Clyde and Jesse James, the historical Rob Roy was a murderous, thieving scoundrel, about whom almost nothing good can be said. For reasons having to do with literary conventions, people like to romanticize the doings of violent thieves. In 80 years, Bernie Madoff and the Sniper of several years past will somehow probably be remembered as folk heros.
Above: Brigitte Bardot and Serge Gainsbourg sing “Bonny and Clyde”
You’ll notice that this drink has a taste reminiscent of coca-cola. I think that’s no coincidence. Angostura bitters were a popular product, and its not surprising the drug dealers who made Coke would want to ape their distinctive taste.
There’s a lot to be said about Angostura, actually, but I’ll save that for another time.
Some people say this is a fancy drink and calls for a high-end scotch. I think that’s totally crazy. If you have a really good scotch, drink it neat or with soda water, to really savor it! The Rob Roy tastes great with anything better than Ballentine’s. Caveat: avoid Cutty Sark, despite its cool label.
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The Santa Rosa

by Jen on July 23, 2010

To celebrate the weekend and the return of Madmen this Sunday, I would like to share Will’s most recent cocktail creation: The Santa Rosa.

The back story:

We watched Madmen as a marathon last winter, having only discovered it when my mother introduced me to it on a family trip.  For a month, we did nothing else but watch Madmen.  We were intrigued by Don’s usual drink: the Old Fashioned, and also by Betty Draper’s Gimlet and the martinis that the Fat Cats on the show have during their decadent three-martini lunches.  Also, the casseroles, but we quickly discovered that casseroles contain a lot of cheese and let that phase go by without too much hubbub.  The cocktail obsession, however, stuck with us, and Will started rapidly acquiring the sundry liquors, elixers and various bitters needed to try anything and everything, with an emphasis on the cocktails from the days of yore.

Will quickly tired of other people’s recipes and started to experiment in mixology, sometimes with disastrous results.  The Santa Rosa is his first cocktail creation that’s ready for prime time (though he also has come up with his own interesting twists on some of the classics!).

Shake or stir the following and serve on ice in an old-fashioned glass.  The garnish of a sprig of cilantro adds a wonderful complexity and tingles your taste buds.

  • 1 1/2 oz bourbon
  • 1 1/2 oz fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice
  • 1/8 oz Benedictine
  • 1/8 oz sweet vermouth
  • 1/8 oz grenadine
  • 1 dash Angostura bitters if you have the large bottle, 2 dashes if dealing with the small bottle

The 1/8 oz is pretty hard to measure–most recipes would just call it “one dash” to avoid stressing you out. Don’t sweat it if your measure is a little off.

How Will created it:

The Santa Rosa began as a way to get rid of some quickly aging but still good grapefruit.  Bourbon was a natural choice for the liquor pairing because they both have such strong favors.  He considered adding simple syrup to sweeten it (grapefruit is very sour), but dismissed this option as obvious and boring.

Instead he added a little Benedictine–a very strong, complex liqueur. The drink tasted better, but still a little sour and astringent.  Will added Angostura bitters, comme il faut (because that’s what you do). He added grenadine, and the drink was no longer sour, and had a lovely red color.  But still there lingered the astringent bourbon finish!

He thought long and hard about what would make it smoother, and decided that sweet vermouth would be good for that.  He added a little bit, and liked the result… a lot!

Note:  In a pinch, Drambuie could be substituted for Benedictine.  They cost about the same (about $30 a bottle), but Benedictine is hard to find.
Also note:  Many of these ingredients–in fact all of these ingredients, will be consumed at a very slow pace.  You may balk at the initial investment, but we find we get a lot of joy in sharing our varied cocktail menu with guests (and our taste buds!) and you may too.

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