How to Use Bitters to Take Your Cocktail Game to the Next Level

If chefs rely on a proverbial spice rack to make their food more flavorful, then the bartenders’ equivalent would have to be a solid selection of bitters. Yet for all their importance in the arsenal of a great drinks professional, bitters remain relatively underused at home by a large swath of the cocktail-making public.

For right around $10, you can pick up a four-ounce bottle of Angostura bitters, which will totally transform your homemade drinks and will, as a bonus, last for a long, long time. (A bartender once told me that her definition of a successful, long-term relationship is one that lasts as long as two full bottles of Angostura bitters in a moderate drinker’s home.) And for around $75, you can assemble a great range of bitters that will serve as something like the cocktail-making equivalent of a superhero’s utility belt.

“Bitters,” explains Christa Cotton, CEO of El Guapo Bitters, “add complexity to cocktails and bring forward different expressions within spirits.” They shine in non-alcoholic cocktails, too. “Aside from adding a depth of flavor to spirited concoctions, they also can be used to balance flavor and are great on their own as a natural flavoring for club soda,” Cotton adds.

“I personally believe that bitters are an excellent way to add flavor to non-alcoholic cocktails,” notes Ian Boston McCaffery, bartender at Pivo in Austin, Texas. “But I think it is the bar’s responsibility to both inform guests of the inclusion and be able to craft it without. Addictions…[are] different for everyone. I would hate to be even partially responsible for someone relapsing into an addiction.” If you’re using them for non-alcoholic cocktails at home, it’s important to let your guests know that bitters do indeed often contain alcohol.

What are bitters made of?

There are several techniques for producing bitters. Most common is infusing roots, herbs, spices, and other botanicals into high-proof alcohol. This process creates a high-proof finished product. “Here at El Guapo, we've created a proprietary brewing process that uses time, pressure, and heat to create high quality, alcohol-free bitters made with a glycerin base,” explains Cotton.

Yet even with bitters that are built on a high-octane base, so little of them get used in any given drink (with precious few exceptions, like an Angostura Sour or a West Indian Old Fashioned, for example) that the amount of alcohol they contribute is almost non-existent. For me, on days when I don’t want my customary iced tea with lunch (I rarely drink soda), I’ll often add a few dashes of bitters into the bottom of a glass, add ice, and top it off with seltzer water. The result is a sneakily complex beverage that’s as close to non-alcoholic as possible, yet still provides a nice and layered bitter counterpoint to whatever I’m eating that day.

But bitters aren’t the only way to get herb, spice, and fruit flavors into your cocktails, and this is where things get confusing. Whereas bitters are blends of ingredients alongside bittering agents, tinctures, which are increasingly popular (a black peppercorn tincture dripped on top of a classic gin Martini is fascinating, for example), are different in several important ways.

“The traditional process of making tinctures is similar to bitters,” Cotton says, “but tinctures don't contain bittering agents.” Common bittering agents used in bitters recipes include wormwood or gentian; tinctures are also commonly single-ingredient infusions, whereas most recipes for bitters contain multiple ingredients. This means that tinctures usually deliver a purely botanical value to cocktails. “Both share a common background, as they were initially developed for medicinal purposes, and have a place on a modern bar cart. They function differently, but play well together,” he says.

“Bitters are a beautiful and I think often misunderstood ingredient in a cocktail,” notes McCaffery. “I usually refer to them as concentrated flavor. Many people don't care for bitter flavors and assume that bitters make drinks bitter.” 

McCaffery argues that the pandemic turned many of us into home cocktail-ers, and having a nice collection of bitters goes right along with that. “[Using] grapefruit bitters in your margarita can make it feel like a Paloma if you don't want to stock all the various juices and sodas all the time. Add some chocolate mole bitters to an espresso Martini,” he adds.

Types of bitters to try

Angostura Bitters

The classic, from Trinidad and Tobago, is the standard addition to the Old Fashioned and the Manhattan. Assertive yet well-balanced woodsy spices shine in it.

El Guapo Bitters

This New Orleans-based company has gained very well-deserved traction in recent years. Standout bitters include chicory pecan and barrel-aged vanilla, but their entire range is impressive. So, too, are their cocktail syrups, especially the creole orgeat and the sweet potato syrup.

Peychaud’s Bitters

Born in New Orleans, this is practically required by law to be added to a Sazerac.

The Bitter Truth Bitters

The venerable bitters brand is a staple in my home collection, specifically their Bogart’s Bitters, which I often incorporate in cocktails that call for Angostura. I also reach for their Cocktail Bitters Traveler's Set, which typically comes with me on long flights, and includes 20ml bottles of five different varieties, including celery, aromatic, orange, creole, and the ginger- and angostura bark-kissed Jerry Thomas bitters.

The Japanese Bitters

These have changed my at-home Martini game. The yuzu bitters are perfect in a classic with London dry gin, as are the shiso bitters. Umami, hinoki (persimmon), and sakura (cherry leaves and petals) round out the excellent portfolio.