evo-lution

It's not cheaper to buy online? The second part of your post I agree with. I may not live in there but I am more than aware of that considering a lot of my business comes from the US. This may be a cultural difference between the US and the UK, where I find many people on this side of the pond have a "live for the weekend" mentality and everything is geared towards that. Ordering or picking up a bottle isn't necessarily for instant gratification, more often than not a bottle is ordered or picked up with the weekend in mind. I guess the size of the countries is another factor, in the UK most booze ordered online is at your door in about 2-3 days maximum. The size of the US makes that logistically impossible in many cases I'd assume. Regardless, the question posted by 12BottleBar is to recommend bitters to a global audience who have an interest in mixed drinks but not necessarily to the level of many that post here. The vast majority of true bitters are available across the globe so that's the info I'd provide to my readers. The bitters you need in your cupboard depends solely on the style of drinks you like. Lest we forget that informed opinions are made based on the information given. To say you only need, or can make do, with an orange bitters and Angostura is wholly wrong in my opinion.

Do people really prefer stepping away from their computer to run down to the liquor store to buy a bottle of booze? I thought people across the World were getting lazier by the day, and that internet shopping was the future.

Point taken and understood, but if the blog's about drinks and the people reading are sat at their computer, to me there's no more accessible and easier way to order a product than by clicking a sales link or similar on that page. I don't see how going to a liquor store is easier?!?

Is accessibility really an issue in this day and age? And surely online ordering is the most accessible way of purchasing practically anything nowadays, particularly when speaking about a global audience?

I covered this earlier in the thread, the simple answer is the necessity for any bitters is based entirely on the drinks you consume and how experimental you are when it comes to home-bartending. Contrary to popular belief, Angostura Aromatic and Peychaud's don't necessarily work in every drink and aren't always the best option, they're just the easiest option. There's a very lazy attitude when it comes to bitters but from what I've seen things are changing as the category is becoming better understood. My earlier thoughts; It may be worth having a look at page 20 of this thread as the thoughts of others are available there.

Writing up some tasting notes for the Khoosh today...

This drink is rocking my World at the moment, created by Paul Graham of Bramble in Edinburgh and was used as part of the bitters presentation I held with Stephan and Alex of The Bitter Truth on Tuesday; 50ml Matusalem Platino 10ml Falernum 20ml Freshly squeezed pink grapefruit juice 10ml Freshly squeezed lime juice 2 Dashes Dandelion & Burdock Bitters Add all ingredients to julep cup, fill with crushed ice and swizzle. Garnish with 3-4 sprigs of mint twisted together to make a wee bouquet and two sip straws.

For me the garnish should be selected dependent on what gin is used. So a strip of cucumber or rose petal for Hendrick's, grapefruit zest for Tanqueray 10 and Martin Miller's, lemon zest for Tanqueray and Plymouth, orange for Beefeater, lime zest for Bombay, and so on. I also quite like a sliver of spring onion which is a great accompaniment to many gins and vermouth. And obviously there's the green olive, black olive, pickled onion variants. What about celery and the like?

No problem mate. Thirded. Winter's kicking into action in Scotland so I've been sipping on (bittered) Toddys and (bittered) Hot Buttered Rums every other night to try and shake this cold I have at the moment, thankfully it seems to be working!

From my own research and findings, I'm pretty sure that it is Scottish in origin. I've just posted this another thread; But there is more to read there.

Dave is correct, some have linked the Scottish toddy with the Indian one but it's unlikely, particularly when you consider the info I'm about to post. I have been researching drinking Scottish drinking culture and have found some interesting info regarding toddys which were an extremely popular drink, especially in Aberdeen where I live. Here's some info I posted on my blog a few months back that I think may answer your question;

The Khoosh are open, little bit of history right there... http://yfrog.com/gi3qfkj

Slightly off topic here but this brings me to something that's been puzzling me for quite a while now, the connection of the Scottish Toddy to the American Cock-tail. Their DNA is very similar, spirit-sugar-water-spice for toddy, spirit-sugar-water-bitters for cock-tail, and both were consumed for their remedial qualities (morning drinks, pick-me-ups and as a cure-all). And then there's the toddy stick...

Koln http://www.shepheard.de/ http://www.capri-lounge.com/ http://www.rubinrotkoeln.de/ Dusseldorf http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=97657344676&v=wall

No-one suggested that, it's not even touched upon in the link posted. If, as Erik suggested, bars are dropping it (or it's no longer being used) due to the myth being exposed then they need to read a little more about the subject. In fact, if bars started using agave because of its supposed health benefits then they should read a little more full stop...

I thought it was pretty clear by my last posting. There's nothing wrong with agave, but there are a lot of people under the impression that agave is somehow better for you which is not the case. That's it, nothing else.

So I found out today the other bottling is Law's Peach Bitters, hopefully I'll have the Finsbury and Law's in my possession by this time next week...

Firstly, potato Shochu is made using sweet potatoes and is a very, very different beast to vodka. That comparison doesn't fit at all. Secondly, what's the crack with vodka. You are aware there are some fantastic flavourful vodkas out there, right? Not every vodka is distilled seventy times and filtered through charcoal a further hundred times.

That's not the problem... This is the problem. It's not that it's bad, it's just not better.

http://www.thatsfit.com/2010/02/15/debunking-the-agave-myth/

Ah, I understand. I'm more than happy to share (as I'll cover in a little more detail) but I'm not going to start sending samples of bitters to anonymous people on the internet. First-off, I have no plans to recreate every vintage/defunct bitters that I get my hands on. I am acquiring these as part of a bigger project and what is essentially an education for myself. The Boker's reformulation came about due to demand, the Spanish are going to be released as a Limited Edition batch due to the quality of them (possibly a one-off yearly batch due to how good they are), and the plan for the Abbott's is a relatively recent thing for the same reasons (demand) coupled with the fact I managed to obtain samples that were in remarkable condition. My Dandelion & Burdock Bitters were created due to the close relations between traditional D&B and bitters. An immediate plan for me is to embark on a tour of bars in the UK (and hopefully the US) with all the bitters I've managed to procure, my own creations, and a number of modern bitters that fit with the profile that bitters were supposed to have (The Bitter Truth and Bittermens being great examples). Why am I planning on doing this? To give people a chance to try drinks as they were first intended but to also experience the rebirth of bitters as a category. Sharing what I've gotten my hands on is on the agenda, that's for sure. I must also add that I am not interested in bottlings that are trying to latch onto the bitters rebirth but are not related to bitters in any way, shape or form. For me, there has to be a clear understanding of the difference between bitters, tinctures and flavourings. I don't want to talk negatively about any particular bottling but some are really misunderstanding the point and purpose of bitters.

Thought I'd give this a bump again with Halloween around the corner and I'm sure many of us will have events/parties on. So what recommendations are there for themed Halloween Cocktails? I'm thinking things like Dark & Stormys, Voodoo Cocktails, Zombies, Death in the Afternoons and Corpse Revivers, not sweet drinks that are ridiculously coloured. Over to you...

A lot of time, patience and money is the short answer. Abbott's aren't that rare and are turned up every so often, the Khoosh has been a long process that I never thought would come to fruition but now it has, the Finsbury Peach was pure luck as with the other bottle I'm still not 100% sure what it is but judging by the Khoosh and Peach it should be something very interesting. As for the comment re: sharing, you've lost me there...

I'll also be taking delivery of a full unopened bottle of Khoosh Bitters in the next couple of days and I'm interested to know if anyone out there has ever come across them (specifically having tried them) as the only person I know that has them is Ted Haigh, although I'm led to believe there's also a bottle at the Museum of the American Cocktail (unsure if this is the same bottle). These are extremely interesting to me due to the fact they were a British Bitters and seem to be extremely rare (to the point where I only know of this one other bottle). On top of that I've been made aware of a full unopened bottle of Finsbury Distillery Peach Bitters that I hope to get my hands on,. I've never heard of these and no-one I've spoken to has ever come across them so reaching out to see if anyone has? Stephan from TBT has a bottle of their Orange Bitters so I'm hopeful that someone may know something... There is also another bottling but I'm awaiting confirmation on what they are.

I've recently developed a love for Armazem Vieira which is a sensational range of Cachaca. They are aged in Brazilian wood (Grápia and Aririba-Holz to be exact) and if I remember right they have a 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 and 16 year old. The first couple of years (if applicable) is aged in the Grápia and then spends its remaining time in the Aririba-Holz. It also uses the Solera aging process. I also really like Germana 2 year old and Leblon as already mentioned.