Bittermens

Of course, nothing can beat having access to fresh ginger juice when you’re making a cocktail – but it isn’t something that most people have laying around their kitchen, and if you do make ginger juice, it starts to lose its flavour almost immediately. By using a combination of dried gingers and alcohol, Bittermens’ have been able to create a shelf-stable ginger bitter that can bring that bite to warming winter cocktails – especially those made with rum and bourbon – yet also work beautifully in classic bucks and mules. In fact, 10 drops in a Moscow Mule turns it into something special.

A taste of the islands. Bittermens’ recommend adding a dash to libations served in shrunken heads, volcanoes and miniature ceramic Moai.These bitters were inspired by one of the new garde of Tiki legends: Brian Miller. He asked if Bittermens’ ever considered making Falernum, a cordial filled with the spices of the West Indies. Since Bittermens’ weren’t cordial makers at the time, Bittermens’ decided to see if it was possible to create a bitter designed with tiki cocktails in mind.

Bittermens’ formulation takes into account the contributions from both the Eastern (Polynesia) and Western (Caribbean) schools of tropical cocktails.

The way that most hot sauces are made is by blending peppers with vinegar, salt and other spices. Vinegar, eh? That sure sounded like a shrub to Bittermens’. Shrubs are classically refreshing fruit and vinegar-based syrups that were sweetened and diluted to make a beverage since revolutionary times. Instead of making a berry shrub or an orange shrub, why not make a hot pepper shrub?

The essence of grapefruit combined with the most noble of hops. It is recommended to add a dash to stirred cocktails made with tequila and long drinks made with gin. When is a grapefruit not just a grapefruit? Avid beer drinkers know that certain varieties of hops, when used in high concentration, deliver a strong grapefruit flavour. Bittermens’ decided to use the grapefruity quality of Pacific Northwest hops along with grapefruit peel to help create a concoction with layer upon layer of vegetal bitterness. Designed to enhance young (silver) rums, tequilas and mezcal, the Hopped Grapefruit bitters play well with most cocktails where you need a little citrus punch. Try it in a daiquiri, gimlet, or even a gin and tonic (with a splash of maraschino).

The Scarborough Bitters were born out of Bittermens’ love of savory drinks, especially drinks with vermouth. What they figured out years ago is that when you take all of the bells and whistles out of dry vermouth, the core flavours are pretty darned close to Herbes de Provence.

Thanks to Simon and Garfunkel, Bittermens’ also know that if you’re heading to Scarborough Fair, there’s going to be some parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme involved. Well, rosemary and thyme are already in most Herbes de Provence blends – and the woodsy sage notes and bright-yet-bitter parsley meshes with them perfectly. To this, they add a little cinchona bark for classic bitterness as well as tartaric acid, the acid found in wine.

For years, customers and distributors have asked Bittermens if we would ever release iconic flavours that have been made popular by other brands. From day one, Bittermens have always said that they won’t simply copy other flavours in the market, nor make replicas of historical flavours. However, if they could create a unique perspective and could create something truly useful, that’s a different story. Then it hit Bittermens. Could they create new classic aromatic bitters that unified the great bitters traditions – not just cocktail bitters but bitter liqueur flavour profiles as well?

Bittermens’ original combination of cacao, cinnamon & spice. It is recommended to add a dash to libations made with dark rum, aged tequila and any other dark spirits you may encounter.