Essential Bitters Cocktails
Curated by Bitters Guide
Ten drinks, and the bitter ingredient does a different job from one to the next. In the Old Fashioned and the Manhattan it is a seasoning, a couple of dashes to sharpen the spirit. In the Negroni and the Boulevardier it carries the drink. In the Sazerac it sets the flavour the rest of the drink is built around, with rye and absinthe behind it. In the Trinidad Sour it is the base spirit itself. Four jobs, one kind of ingredient.
Collection Recipes (10 recipes)
Old Fashioned
Classic whiskey cocktail with Angostura bitters
Curator Notes
Spirit, sugar and bitters, and nothing else to hide behind. Make it three times with three different bottles and the difference is impossible to miss
Manhattan
Classic whiskey and vermouth cocktail
Curator Notes
Bitters as the aromatic bridge between whiskey and vermouth — without them it is not yet a cocktail
Negroni
Italian aperitif cocktail with Campari
Curator Notes
Campari measured in ounces, not dashes: bitterness as a primary ingredient rather than a seasoning
Sazerac
New Orleans cocktail with Peychaud's bitters
Curator Notes
Peychaud's in the role that defines it, anise-bright against rye and absinthe
Boulevardier
Whiskey-based Negroni variation with bitters complexity
Curator Notes
The same bitter backbone as a Negroni, moved from gin to bourbon and rounded off by it
Aperol Spritz
Venetian aperitif with Aperol
Curator Notes
The aperitivo entry point, and the gentlest introduction to drinking bitter
Paper Plane
Modern equal-parts cocktail with bourbon, Aperol, and amaro
Curator Notes
Amaro in a modern classic, split equally four ways
Trinidad Sour
Orgeat-based sour with Angostura bitters as base
Curator Notes
An ounce and a half of Angostura, poured as the base spirit. The drink that settles the argument about what bitters can carry
Vieux Carré
New Orleans cocktail built on two bitters, Peychaud's and Angostura
Curator Notes
Two bitters at once, Peychaud's and Angostura, in harmony over rye, cognac and Bénédictine
Dry Martini
Gin and dry vermouth stirred cold, with orange bitters for lift
Curator Notes
Two dashes of orange bitters across gin and dry vermouth, the seasoning role at its most exposed