Regans’ Orange Bitters No. 6

[lancastermike]

Last night I made a bourbon manhattan and substituted orange bitters for the Angostura and it was a subtle but nice difference

Bourbon and orange bitters are great. Recently I have been pouring 2 1/2 oz of bourbon and 1/2 oz maraschino over ice and adding two splashes of Fee Brothers orange bitters. This makes a very nice sipping drink for me.

[kvltrede]

Bourbon and orange bitters are great.  Recently I have been pouring 2 1/2 oz of bourbon and 1/2 oz maraschino over ice and adding two splashes of Fee Brothers orange bitters.  This makes a very nice sipping drink for me.

Add a couple splashes of Angostura to that combo and you've made your bad self a Fancy Free Cocktail, lancastermike--albeit one with a little extra "pep". The recipe below calls for the usual shake'n'strain but I generally go "rocks" with this one myself so don't dust off your shaker on my account.

Fancy-Free Cocktail

2 oz Bourbon

½ oz Maraschino

1-2 dashes each Angostura and Fee’s orange bitters

Shake with cracked ice and strain. Garnish w/cherry.

I don't recall where I came across the Fancy Free but I think it was either the Gumbo Pages or DrinkBoy. Since Chuck at GP sez he got it from Robert at DB I don't suppose it matters much but as both sites are great I'll link to both sites.

Kurt

[Chris Amirault]

Here's what's been keeping the Rowley house toasty recently;

Pegu Club

Shake well with cracked ice:

4 oz London dry gin

1.5 oz orange curacao (I've been using Cointreau)

1.5 oz lime juice

Big dash of Angostura bitters

Big dash of orange bitters

Strain into two cocktail glasses (or a single glass for you big lushes).

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A most excellent use of the Regans', I have to admit, and I always have the ingredients around. This is going into heavy rotation.

Quick question: drinking two 3.5 oz PC cocktails in reasonably slow succession qualifies one as an aficionado, not a lush, yes?

[M.X.Hassett]

Quick question: drinking two 3.5 oz PC cocktails in reasonably slow succession qualifies one as an aficionado, not a lush, yes?

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No lushes here, only Cocktailens

P.S. when everone refers to marschino are you refering to the syrup or the spirit?

Edited January 30, 2006 by M.X.Hassett (log)

[kvltrede]

P.S. when everone refers to marschino are you refering to the syrup or the spirit?

If it isn't clear from the context I'd say it's a pretty sure bet that any reference to maraschino is to the liqueur (and any drink actually calling for maraschino syrup is likely to be improved by subbing Maraschino liqueur anyway).

Kurt

[mbrowley]

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A most excellent use of the Regans', I have to admit, and I always have the ingredients around. This is going into heavy rotation.

Quick question: drinking two 3.5 oz PC cocktails in reasonably slow succession qualifies one as an aficionado, not a lush, yes?

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I don't recall saying anything about slow succession, reasonable or otherwise. Drinking five in slow succession hardly qualifies one as a lush, in fact, as long as one is tending a barbecue pit or is otherwise hard at work.

One ought never, however, don a hardhat with plastic mugs of Pegu clubs attached and sip them through Krazy Straws, no matter how tempting the taste of orange bitters. Save that for white Russians and participatory viewings of "The Big Lebowski."

Matthew

[M.X.Hassett]

(and any drink actually calling for maraschino syrup is likely to be improved by subbing Maraschino liqueur anyway).

Kurt

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I am in full agreement with you on that Kurt. Cheers

Edited January 30, 2006 by M.X.Hassett (log)

[limewine]

For any Seattle-area folks still looking for ROB#6, I spotted a half-dozen 5 oz. bottles on the shelf at DeLaurenti's, in Pike Place Market, about an hour ago. Go get 'em.

[Chris Amirault]

I made a nameless bourbon sour-y thing with 2 oz bourbon, 1 oz demerarra ginger syrup, 1 oz lime, and a healthy few dashes of Regans' -- all shaken with crushed ice to foamy wonder. This I recommend to you, my friends.

[perfumekev]

I made a nameless bourbon sour-y thing with 2 oz bourbon, 1 oz demerarra ginger syrup, 1 oz lime, and a healthy few dashes of Regans' -- all shaken with crushed ice to foamy wonder. This I recommend to you, my friends.

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Garry Regan's Orange Bitters are a wonderfull versatile material blending well with many drink formats, traditional and modern. Made a great Dutch Sweet Martini with:

Dutch Sweet Martini

Damrak " genever" Bols 3oz.

Carapano Antiqua sweet vermouth 1oz.

few drops of cherry juice

two dashes Regan's orange bitters

one dash Fee's old fashioned bitters (these bitters are wonderfully spicey)

stir with cracked ice 1 min.

strain into cocktail glass garnish with cherrys and valencia orange twists.

Gary Regan did it again

[Gary Regan]

Thanks for the kind words.

I'm actually replying to see if I've managed to upload the caricature (by Jill DeGroff) properly. Fingers crossed that you, and I, can see it.

[M.X.Hassett]

Thanks for the kind words.

I'm actually replying to see if I've managed to upload the caricature (by Jill DeGroff) properly.  Fingers crossed that you, and I, can see it.

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As always Jill and you never fail. The caricature is up.

Cheers

[BTR]

It seems as if the only orange bitters that get mentioned here are Regans' and Fee's. But I've seen in bevmo and John Walker in San Francisco bottles of a blood orange bitters (never tried it) and just last night saw a German brand called Riemenschmid. Are there more?

[cdh]

Well, there is the Dutch brand Hoppe, which isn't exactly a substitute for the Fees'/Regan's... much less concentrated flavor.

Riemerschmid makes the wacky anise-y Boonekamp bitters... do they sell the orange bitters in the full-sized bottles too? Talk about a way to get a lifetime supply...

And to some extent the Torani Amer/AmerPicon might count as orange bitters too, though not an exact replacement...

[JAZ]

It seems as if the only orange bitters that get mentioned here are Regans' and Fee's.  But I've seen in bevmo and John Walker in San Francisco bottles of a blood orange bitters (never tried it) . . .

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If the blood orange bitters are what I'm thinking of, they're non-alcoholic. If you look at the ingredients, you'll see a few bitter components, but my guess is that it will probably taste like a slightly bitter orange syrup.

[Snowy is dead]

Stirrings makes blood organge bitters. They aren't very potent and have no alchohol in them. I found that out the hard way when they started to get funky. The rep for the company was in the bar a few weeks back and she was telling me how wonderful and organic all the ingredients were. To me the lack of a bitters like top (it's just an open bottle neck), need for constant refrigeration for lack of alchohol, and weak flavor didn't work for me. To get the same concentration of flavor as a few drops of the other orange bitters, you need about 1/2 an once.

[donbert]

LeNell's is a great resource for information about various bitters. My favorite orange bitters have to be the Hermes (Suntory) brand. As LeNell describes it "not as sweet as Fee and not as spicy as Regans".

Blood Orange peels are great for making you own bitters. I've been experimenting with blood orange and szechuan peppercorns for a while now. I'll post a recipe once I lock it down.

[edsel]

Thanks for the LeNell's link, donbert. I didn't know there were so many makers of bitters.

...

Blood Orange peels are great for making you own bitters. I've been experimenting with blood orange and szechuan peppercorns for a while now. I'll post a recipe once I lock it down.

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Sounds very interesting. Does it have that weird "electric" Ma La heat?

[eje]

I recently gave my last spare bottle of Regan's Orange Bitters #6 to a newly cocktail besotted friend.

Going back to the Buffalo Trace website, I notice the ROB#6 is no longer listed.

Anyone know off hand if they are between batches?

Or have they discontinued the product?

I tried using the contact form on their website; but, it doesn't seem to work. Just get a server error. Useless IIS servers...

[jmfangio]

Hopefully they're just between batches. It would be dark day in the cocktail world if they're discontinued. For now, they're also available here.

Edited September 20, 2007 by jmfangio (log)

[Gary Regan]

Hopefully they're just between batches.  It would be dark day in the cocktail world if they're discontinued.  For now, they're also available here.

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Hi Guys: Sorry I haven't been around.

Thanks to chrisamirault for letting me know about this topic.

I'm 99.9999999% sure that they haven't been discontinued. I would definitely have been informed, and sales have been pretty good so . . . Also, just for the record, dealing with Buffalo Trace on this project has been a thing of beauty. They're honorable people and very easy to get along with, so I know they would have let me know if anything was awry.

I'll contact them, get the scoop, and report back as soon as poss.

Cheers, Gary

Edited September 21, 2007 by Gary Regan (log)

[Gary Regan]

Okay guys! All is well. There was a hiccough in production and they'll be back on Buffalo Trace web site in near future.

Thanks for the concern

Cheers, Gary

[Snowy is dead]

Is there currently any distribution in Massachusetts, or are these exclusively mail order outside of New York?

[Chris Amirault]

Since it's non-alcoholic and therefore not covered by state distribution laws, I've found that a friendly conversation with your local liquor store owner, accompanied by a piece of paper with the relevant information written on it, has gotten it on the shelves around these parts. Here in RI, the location that currently carries it is Another Liquor Store [sic] on Warwick Ave in Cranston RI.

[eje]

Thanks for checking Gary!

Whew! I was getting a bit worried, since I gave away my last spare bottle and my bottle was getting low!

Chris,

Interesting!

I believe it is alcoholic, though.

It's just not classed as an alcoholic beverage.

At least in CA, it seems like liquor stores still have to go through the distributor to legally carry it, and for some reason the distributor doesn't want to stock it. At least that's what I've gathered from conversations with liquor store managers.