Best way to carry orange bitters with you?

[Lan4Dawg]

k, so it has been determined by taste tests and on this forum that a martini is just not a martini w/o orange bitters

(side note: today's Atl news paper had a receipt for a Matador taken fr/ Food & Wine: Cocktails 2006. The article mentioned that the "in" things now were bitters and vermouth but the cocktail mentioned was essentially a rum martini--rum, vermouth, orange bitters--and is nothing like the Matador listed in any of my cocktail books--tequila, triple sec, pineapple juice, lime)

back to the question: How do you take your orange bitters w/ you? Most bars--at least those in Georgia--do not carry orange bitters nor have many bar tenders even heard of the things. I filled a mini liquor bottle but it is very awkward and, quite frankly, looks like a bad "sample" (if you know what I mean) and when you pull a mini liquor bottle fr/ your pocket some bar folks look a tad askance (although I did have a patron say to the person seated next to her at one bar, "Oh look he brings his own bitters") so what is the best way to take your orange bitters to a bar w/ you? or do you?

[slkinsey]

Get an eyedropper bottle.

[Sneakeater]

To me, taking my own special bitters to a bar would be like taking my own special butter or salt to a restaurant. I just wouldn't do it. I just expect different levels of quality -- or really not quality, but rather elaborateness -- when I go to a place like Pegu Club (I'm in New York), which has orange bitters and whatever else you could want in a cocktail, and more modest places, which I wouldn't expect to.

[Sneakeater]

Get an eyedropper bottle.

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Although this is probably a better answer.

[slkinsey]

Or, get a mini bottle of Angostura bitters, dump out the Angostura and refill with orange bitters. But an eyedropper bottle is smaller and easier to use, I think.

[gethin]

It's a shame that Fee Bros ,Angostura, Peychauds et al can't be prevailed upon to do mini bottles (10 ml or so) like Tabasco do. I usually have a couple of those to hand and they improve a wide variety of food and drink.

I try to stick a bottle of orange bitters in my bag if I'm going away for a conference, but except for using it to perk up drinks on the train, I normally sneak drinks back to my hotel room for remedial attention rather than take the bitters down to the bar.

I have no shame about adding orange bitters to an espresso in Starbucks though, if that's the best i can manage (which oustside of London is often the case.) Desperate straits require desperate measures! (though I've often wondered why there is no such thing as lemon bitters, which would work even better in coffee ).

The eye dropper solution sounds like a good idea.

Gethin

[azlee]

the container store carries travel sized leakproof dropper bottles. nalgene travel dropper

[Alchemist]

You ever seen the tiny Tabasco bottles? Like the single sevrving ones you get with some meals to go? Is there a way of refilling those? They are very cute.

[prasantrin]

How about those little plastic refillable (I say "refillable" because they can be refilled, though usually people throw them away after one use) soy sauce bottles that you get with bentos? If you live near a Japanese supermarket (or Chinese, or maybe even Korean), you might be able to find them. They usually don't hold more than 15-30 mL.

While not the ones I'm referring to, Torakris posted this picture in the Bento thread over in the Japanese forum.

Of course you'd get the smaller, plainer ones...

edited for bad editing.

Edited May 26, 2006 by prasantrin (log)

[Lan4Dawg]

It's a shame that Fee Bros ,Angostura,  Peychauds et al can't be prevailed upon to do mini bottles (10 ml or so) like Tabasco do. I usually have a couple of those to hand and they improve a wide variety of food and drink.

I try to stick a bottle of orange bitters in my bag if I'm going away for a conference,  but except for using it to perk up drinks on the train,  I normally  sneak drinks back to my hotel room for remedial attention rather than take the bitters down to the bar.

I have no shame about adding orange bitters to an  espresso in Starbucks  though, if that's the best i can manage (which oustside of London is often the case.)  Desperate straits require desperate measures!  (though I've often wondered why there is no such thing as lemon bitters, which would work even better in coffee ).

The  eye  dropper solution sounds like a good idea.

Gethin

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I proposed to the woman at Fee's who answers the telephone that they consider selling bitters in a "portable" bottle. Now I do not know if she was truly interested or if she said what she did to "get the nut job off the telephone" but she said it was a great idea and she would mention it to those in charge.

Now if every one of us who orders fr/ Fee's should request they package their product in a small "portable" bottle they might get the idea that there is a market for it.

[Kent Wang]

Do you think breaking out an unlabeled eye dropper to add a strange-colored liquid to your drink won't look highly suspicious?

[slkinsey]

That's just part of the fun.

[KatieLoeb]

Do you think breaking out an unlabeled eye dropper to add a strange-colored liquid to your drink won't look highly suspicious?

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I'd be more concerned about breaking out the unlabeled eyedropper to add strange liquid to other peoples drinks lookng highly suspicious...

[gethin]

I have no shame about adding orange bitters to an  espresso in Starbucks  though, if that's the best i can manage (which oustside of London is often the case.)  Desperate straits require desperate measures!  (though I've often wondered why there is no such thing as lemon bitters, which would work even better in coffee ).

Gethin

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I belive Fee Bros have done the decent thing and developed a lemon bitters ! Anyone tried it ?

Gethin

[ThinkingBartender]

Bringing your own bitters into a bar will make you look like the most arrogant person who ever lived. If however you know the bartenders, and you offer to bring the "real thing" in with you then fine.

Carrying around a "bat utility belt" of forgotten ingredients will definative earn you few friends, regardless of whether you are right or not.

Best to keep pestering the bar-staff into introducing obscure ingredients.

Cheers!

George