Bitters: The Bartender’s Spice Cabinet

Oct 3, 2011 |

Bittermens was featured in a recent piece on bitters written by Leslie Pariseau for Eater National:

“If you have to have one bitter in the arsenal, it’s Angostura,” says Avery Glasser of Bittermens. “It’s the most classic—like the black pepper of the cocktail world.” As a rule, bitters add depth and balance to a cocktail and connect or smooth flavors together. “The next flavor you should have is orange bitters,” counsels Glasser, “but it’s when you get to the third bitter that you can start to have fun.” Avery and Janet Glasser, now based in Brooklyn, began making bitters in 2007 with flavors that hadn’t been commercially explored like Xocolatl Mole which they recommend using in dark spirit based cocktails like aged tequila, rum or bourbon. Eventually they worked with New York bartender Phil Ward on a grapefruit bitter, and Brian Miller on ‘Elemakule Tiki bitters.

The Glassers have made Bittermens their passion and livelihood producing everything from shrubs to liqueurs and opening bitters bar and general store Amor y Amargo in Manhattan. It seem they’re having fun experimenting, but they’ve also become very serious about the profession. “There are a lot of people making seasonal bitters,” explains Avery, “hobbyists who say, ‘Oh wouldn’t it be fun to dot-dot-dot?'” Well-established on the bitters scene, Bittermens shouldn’t worry too much about competition, especially considering their flavor specialization, but Glasser has a point.

The rest of the article can be found here: Bitters: The Bartender’s Spice Cabinet.

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