Aromatic Bitters by Angostura

Angostura is essential in the Old Fashioned, Manhattan, and Champagne Cocktail. It also appears in the Trinidad Sour where it is used as the base spirit. Two or three dashes are the standard measure for most recipes.

Yes. Angostura Aromatic Bitters contain 44.7% ABV, which is higher than most spirits. However, they are used in such small quantities (a few dashes per drink) that the alcohol contribution to a cocktail is negligible.

No. The high alcohol content preserves Angostura bitters indefinitely. An opened bottle stored at room temperature away from direct sunlight will maintain its flavor for many years. There is no need to refrigerate.

Any aromatic bitters substitute one-for-one: Fee Brothers Old Fashion, The Bitter Truth Old Time Aromatic, or a craft producer's aromatic blend. The drink will taste slightly different (Angostura's clove-forward profile is distinctive), but the structure survives. In recipes where Angostura is the base spirit, like the Trinidad Sour, there is no workable substitute.

The exact recipe has been a trade secret since 1824 and is reportedly known to only a handful of people. What is public: a high-proof spirit base, gentian root for bitterness, and a blend of spice botanicals. Despite the name, it contains no angostura bark — the bitters are named after the Venezuelan town where Dr. Johann Siegert first made them.

Concentrated baking spice over a bitter backbone: clove and cinnamon up front, allspice and dark botanical depth behind it. Straight from the bottle they are harsh and intensely bitter; in a drink, a few dashes bind the other ingredients together and add warmth rather than reading as a flavor of their own.

An-gos-TOO-ra. The name comes from the Venezuelan town of Angostura (today Ciudad Bolívar), where the bitters were first compounded in 1824 — not from angostura bark, which is not an ingredient.

No. The House of Angostura in Trinidad makes both products: the famous aromatic bitters and a separate line of aged rums (including the 1919 and 1824 expressions). The bitters are a concentrated aromatic used by the dash; the rums are sipping and mixing spirits.