Bitters as the base!

[BennyAdeline]

After having a drink at my local watering hole Harvard and Stone called the "Trinidad sour", I went on an internet search to find the recipe. It was crated by Giuseppe Gonzalez, a bartender at Clover Club in Brooklyn. The interesting thing is the recipe:

Trinidad sour

1 oz Ang. Bitters

1 oz Orgeat

3/4 oz lemon Juice

1/2 oz Rittenhouse rye or other other high proof whiskey (Harvard and stone uses Root here, ratio unknown)

Shakey shakey, strain into coupe, lemon peel, done-zo

That's a lot of bitters! We also have the sweetener in direct proportion with the base. Make one right now, I'll wait........

Welcome back! Its pretty damn good, huh? Like really damn good. I find the fragrant profile tames the sweetness of the orgeat while allowing the almond to do its magic. I love it!

My question: Does anyone know other recipes where we use a un-orthodox amount of bitters? I really want to explore using bitters as the base liquor.

[hathor]

Isn't orgeat made from almonds? At least that's how I made it>>>

Back OT, that's a LOT of bitters...and I like bitters! That would empty out the bitter bottle right fast.

[BennyAdeline]

Isn't orgeat made from almonds? At least that's how I made it>>>

Back OT, that's a LOT of bitters...and I like bitters! That would empty out the bitter bottle right fast.

yeah, you get 4 drinks out of a small bottle of Ang. Worth it 100% though

[KD1191]

The Gun Shop Fizz (2 oz Peychaud's) and the Angostura Sour (1 1/2 oz Angostura) both appeared in Rogue Beta Cocktails, which has a number of drinks with heavy 'non-potable bitters' components.

[EvergreenDan]

Well worth making: Feel free to sub Campari + soda for the hard-to-find Sanbitter.

Gunshop Fizz

by Kirk Estopinal and Maks Pazuniak, Beta Cocktails

2 oz Peychaud's Bitters

1 oz Lemon

1/2 oz Simple syrup

3 sli Cucumber

2 Strawberry

3 Orange peel (wide swaths)

3 Grapefruit peel (wide swaths)

1 oz Sanbitter ((or Campari & soda))

Muddle all but Sanbitter for 2 minutes to allow flavors to meld. Add ice, shake, strain, collins glass. Garnish with cucumber slice.

This sounds interesting, although I have not made it:

Daywalker

by Flatiron Lounge, NYC

1 oz Angostura bitters

1 oz Rye

1 oz Pineapple juice

1/4 oz Cinnamon syrup

Shake, strain, serve up.

And this:

Suffering Bastard

Altered Recipe

1 oz Bourbon

1 oz Gin

1 oz Lime juice

1 oz Angostura bitters

4 oz Ginger ale

Old-fashioned glass. Garnish with a mint sprig and orange slice

--

Kindred Cocktails | Craft + Collect + Concoct + Categorize + Community

Edited May 15, 2011 by EvergreenDan (log)

[Tri2Cook]

The Suffering Bastard recipe illustrates one of the problems I run into while trying to learn about cocktails. I've made that drink and enjoyed it but the recipe I had only called for a couple dashes of the bitters. It really is incredibly difficult to know when you are working with a recipe that is as originally intended unless someone who knows points you in the right direction. I'll have to try it again with the additional bitters.

These drinks sound pretty interesting to me and fortunately most of them seem to call for angostura since that's the only bitters available locally. The rest of my collection, I've had to source and order... usually at expensive shipping rates. I'm not sure I could make myself use them an ounce at a time.

[EvergreenDan]

I admit that this slipped past me. The recipe posted above has been heavily modified by the poster. The original, as you said, as only a couple of dashes. My error.

The Atlantic on the Suffering Bastard

[kathryn]

Giuseppe Gonzalez (who can be found most nights now at Painkiller) also created this:

Stormy Mai-Tai

1½ oz Angostura Aromatic bitters

1 oz lime juice

¾ oz orgeat syrup

¾ oz curaçao

½ oz light rum

Shake all ingredients but rum well with ice and strain in to an ice-filled old-fashioned glass. Top with crushed ice and swizzle lightly. Float light rum on top and garnish with a sprig of mint.

[AAQuesada]

Aren't we in the middle of an Angostura shortage? Is this responsible behavior!

Kidding, but I do remember hearing this on NPR. Is it really true?

[FrogPrincesse]

The shortage is no longer an issue as far as I know.

It was linked to a problem with their bottle manufacturer if I remember correctly.

[thirtyoneknots]

That's kind of funny about the Suffering Bastard typo/modification. When we had that on the menu at Veritas with house ginger ale, I made the same mistake on the recipe card. Luckily my colleagues were paying attention and caught the typo before someone was served a more 'avante-garde' drink. Not that kind of crowd there, sadly.

Great drink though, and yes to the ginger beer.

[haresfur]

Shhh! They might start calling the bitters "potable" and taxing them as such.

[tammylc]

The Daywalker is delicious. A bit of an acquired taste - usually if I make it at a party, everyone's happy to have a sip and pass it on. But I'll happily drink a whole one all to myself. I don't usually have cinnamon syrup on hand, so I'll sub simple with a little shake of cinnamon powder (or skip the cinnamon altogether, as the angostura has enough warm spice notes that I'm not sure you'd notice its absence...)

[EvergreenDan]

Try Becherovka as a sub for Cinnamon syrup. It has a strong cinnamon top note. It's not nearly as sweet as a syrup, so the sugar/acid balance might need a tweak.

[tammylc]

Dan, I'm even *less* like to have that in my house! I've only got room for so many bottles. But honestly, I've tried it both ways and the difference is not significant.

[RoyalSwagger]

Hey all,

Down here in the Southwest at Scott & Co cocktail lounge, we find ourselves using bitters as a base quite often, like a little too much. I gotta say after Maksym convinced me to buy a copy of Rogue Cocktails off of him at Tales 09', I kind of went a little nuts with the bitter base idea. Here are two drinks off of the Spring menu. And a Tiki drink and two flips.

Tres Sangres

Angostura 1/2 oz

Regans Orange 1/2 oz

Peychauds 1/2 oz

Dolin Rouge 1 oz (Punt e Mes works as well)

Del Maguey Mezcal Vida 1/2 oz

2:1 Demerara Syrup 1/2 oz

Ice, Stir, Strain into rocks glass or coupe. Lemon and Orange Twist.

Crimson and Clover

Carraway infused Campari 1 oz

Peychauds 1/2 oz

Creme de Cacao 3/4 oz

2:1 Simple -1/4 oz

Lemon 1/2 oz

Egg White

Dry shake White and Lemon, add the rest and shake with Ice, strain into a large coupe, garnish with a smacked mint leaf. (Spray with Cocoa Bitters in an atomizer if you have handy which I know is asking a lot, though not necessary.)

Tarnished Idol Fizz (Sangre de Don)

Angostura 1 oz

Yellow Chart 3/4 oz

Fesh Pina Juice 1 oz

Lime 1/2 oz

2:1 Simple 1/2 oz

3 Heavy dashes of Absinthe

Whites

Dry Shake Whites & Lime, Add Rest, Dry Shake s'more, Ice, Shake, Strain into Fizz glass, Top w/ 1 oz Soda, Lemon Twist discard

Sassy Molassy

Cruzan Blackstrap Rum 1 oz

Angostura 1/2 oz

Pomegranate Molasses 1/2 oz

Cinnamon Syrup 1:1 1/2 oz

Whole Egg

Shake, shake, shake with ice(the bigger the better,) strain over Ice and garnish with nutmeg.

And my favorite!

D.T.F. (Down To Flip)

Angostura 1 oz

Gomme Syrup or 2:1 Demerara Syrup +1/2 oz

Whole Egg

Shake with ice, Strain into collins glass and top with(here's the fun part) equal parts Porter and sparkling wine. Nutmeg won't hurt.

The amount of syrup varies with the sweetness of said porter and sparkling wine.

I hope that some of you will be able to reproduce at least one of these, they are certainly worth a try. Enjoy!

Ciaran Wiese

Bar Manager at Scott & Co. and 47 Scott

Tucson, AZ

[brinza]

Hmmm. It looks like I'm going to have to start buying Angostura in the 10oz bottles.

[EvergreenDan]

I polished off my Angostura making a Suffering Bastard with the (erroneous) 1oz of Angostura and fresh lime. I found it too Angostura-dominant. There's no hint of the gin left. (I also used a mixture of Canton and soda to simulate ginger beer, since I didn't have any on hand.) I think it would be worth making with the correct recipe, except perhaps with fresh lime to balance the sugary ginger beer.

I hope to try some of Ciaran's interesting ideas above. I wonder how they would be with Fee WBA ....

[Tri2Cook]

I think it would be worth making with the correct recipe, except perhaps with fresh lime to balance the sugary ginger beer.

The Suffering Bastard recipe I have and use is identical to the one you posted here other than the amount of bitters. I can see where you would want more balance if you were to use the recipe in the link with 1 tsp. of sweetened lime juice. I found the drink well balanced with the 1 oz. of fresh juice. Of course we may have different ideas of well balanced, I'm not as offended by sweet as many are. I don't require sweet, I'm just not offended by it as long as the drink tastes good to me.

[thirtyoneknots]

1 oz lime is the way to go. Try Reed's Extra Ginger. 2-4 dashes Angostura.

[RoyalSwagger]

Speaking from experience, I would strongly advise against using any of the Fees Bitters as a base, that much glycerine will ruin any drink.

[Relish]

This does not quite qualify for bitters as the base, but Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails lists the Calvados Cocktail (originally from the Savoy Cocktail book) as including a very healthy dose of orange bitters:

1.5 oz Calvados

1.5 oz OJ

0.75 oz Cointreau

0.75 oz orange bitters

(Shake, strain, up, orange wheel garnish)

I haven't tried it myself, but Haigh describes it as something like an Orange Negroni.

Per the above comment, wouldn't use all Fee's in this, although I'm not sure that the spiciness of Regan's would be quite right either. Maybe a 50/50 mix, or Ango or TBT if you have access to those.

[Rafa]

I like this other Ango sour by Giuseppe Gonzalez even more than his Trinidad Sour:

Stormy Mai Tai

by Giuseppe Gonzalez, Dutch Kills, Queens, NY.

1 1/2 oz Bitters, Angostura

3/4 oz Curaçao

3/4 oz Orgeat

1 oz Lime juice

1/2 oz Light rum (as float)

1 spg Mint (as garnish)

Shake, strain into a double old fashioned over crushed ice, lightly swizzle, float light rum and garnish with mint.

Banks 5 and Wray & Nephew make good floats.

Edited April 4, 2013 by Rafa (log)

[FrogPrincesse]

I like this other Ango sour by Giuseppe Gonzalez even more than his Trinidad Sour:

Stormy Mai Tai

by Giuseppe Gonzalez, Dutch Kills, Queens, NY.

1 1/2 oz Bitters, Angostura

3/4 oz Curaçao

3/4 oz Orgeat

1 oz Lime juice

1/2 oz Light rum (as float)

1 spg Mint (as garnish)

Shake, strain into a double old fashioned over crushed ice, lightly swizzle, float light rum and garnish with mint.

Banks 5 and Wray & Nephew make good floats.

I just had to try this, with my new 16 oz bottle of Angostura...

I almost used rhum agricole for the float and this would have been the way to go. Flor de Cana is too tame for this. The color is not exactly attractive (it looks like a watery Bloody Mary) but it does not taste bad. It is a bit on the dry side and the spices and texture are good. I have to admit that I prefer a regular (Trader Vic) Mai Tai though...

[Rafa]

A funky aromatic rum float is a must for this one, I think. Mine ended up a more attractive color than yours (closer to Jordan's here) but also on the dry side, possibly because we both used Creole Shrubb. A true Curaçao would probably result in a sweeter drink. I think I liked it more than you did; I also prefer a Vic's Mai Tai (or a Bitter Mai Tai), but then those are two of my very favorite drinks, so that's hardly an insult...