Bitters are strong alcoholic drinks characterized by their bitter flavor. They are made from herbs, roots, spices, and other botanicals, with alcohol content ranging from 6% to 50%. Originating from European traditions, bitters serve various purposes in drinking culture.
How it is made
Bitters are created by extracting aromatic components from various botanicals including herbs, roots, spices, and citrus peels in pure alcohol, followed by dilution with water. Common ingredients used in production include wormwood, gentian, ginger, anise, bitter orange peels, and cinchona bark. The base can be grain alcohol, grape alcohol, or sugarcane alcohol.
Types and styles
Bitters are categorized into aromatic and drinking varieties. Drinking bitters include aperitifs (served before meals) and digestifs (served after meals). Specific types include Amaro (Italian bitter liqueurs), Amaretto (slightly bitter, made from almonds), and Fernet (notably bitter). Popular examples include Aperol, Becherovka, Campari, Cynar, Fernet Branca, and Jägermeister. Aromatic bitters are highly concentrated and used primarily in cocktails.
How it is served
Bitters can be served neat, often chilled in small glasses, particularly as digestifs after meals. Some are enjoyed as aperitifs, either straight or with ice. They are also widely used as cocktail ingredients, with just a few drops added to enhance flavor. On this site, bitters are featured in cocktails such as Negroni, Whisky Sour, Old Fashioned, Manhattan, Americano, Sazerac, Planter's Punch, Pisco Sour, Horse's Neck, Casino, Spritz, Tuxedo, French Connection, Aperol Spritz, and Singapore Sling.
Adapted from the Russian Wikipedia article Биттер, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Kinds of bitters
- Amaro (110 cocktails)
- Angostura bitters (89 cocktails)
- Peychaud's Bitters (46 cocktails)
- Cynar (32 cocktails)
- Aperol (31 cocktails)
- Becherovka (15 cocktails)
- Picon (3 cocktails)
- Braulio (1 cocktails)
- Fernet Stock
- Pelinkovac
Other styles
- Suze (Switzerland)
- Swedish bitters
- Orange bitters
- Boker's Bitters
- Beerenburg (Netherlands)
- Alomo Bitters
- Gifiti
- Gran Classico Bitter (Italy)
- Amargo Chuncho (Peru)
- Arnbitter
- Limet
- St. Vitus
- Light cavalerie vodka
Well-known brands
- Underberg
- Unicum (Hungary)
- Gammel Dansk (Denmark)
- Stones Bitter
- Melbourne Bitter
- Ballarat Bitter
- Meinhard's Bitters
- Карельский бальзам (Soviet Union)