“After trying Bittermens gentian liqueur in the Shanty‘s Sauvetage cocktail, we decided to check out Bittermens Spirits, a Brooklyn-based company that specializes in bitter and herbal liqueurs. We found that its products have been embraced by some of the city’s top bars, like PDT, Amor y Amargo, and Dram, and caught up with one of the co-founders, Janet Glasser, who took time out from bottling to tell us where she gets ideas for her unique flavor combinations.”

Read the rest of the interview here!

Photo by Evans Caglage, Staff Photographer for Dallas Morning News

“A few drops of Bittermens flavored bitters or extracts lend zing to otherwise ordinary cocktails. Made in Brooklyn, N.Y., this artisanal product is new to Dallas.  …slip a few drops of the Xocolatl Mole bitters into a margarita, a Manhattan or an Old-Fashioned; add the Hopped Grapefruit Bitters to a gin and tonic; spike tequila cocktails with the Celery Shrub or Habanero Shrub flavoring; and mix some Elemakule Tiki Bitters into a Mai Tai.”

via Mix drinks like a pro with Bittermens extracts and bitters

]]> http://bittermens.com/2012/02/mix-drinks-like-a-pro-with-bittermens-extracts-and-bitters/feed/ 0 http://bittermens.com/2012/01/gizmodo/ http://bittermens.com/2012/01/gizmodo/#comments Mon, 23 Jan 2012 04:42:12 +0000 admin http://bittermens.com/?p=1619 Bittermens was featured on Gizmodo, in an excellent article on bitters and cocktails written by Brent Rose for their weekly booze column “Happy Hour.”

“So, your home bar is obviously not complete without bitters. If you’re just starting a bitters collection, from Bittermens, Teague recommends the Hopped Grapefruit to go with light spirits (vodka, gin, etc) and the Xocolatl Mole Bitters for darker spirits (rye, dark rum, bourbon).”

via Sweet-Talk and Bitters

]]> http://bittermens.com/2012/01/gizmodo/feed/ 0 http://bittermens.com/2012/01/amor-y-amargo/ http://bittermens.com/2012/01/amor-y-amargo/#comments Thu, 19 Jan 2012 23:38:51 +0000 admin http://bittermens.com/?p=1636 Bittermens and Amor y Amargo were featured in Edible Manhattan’s “The Alcohol Issue” (Jan-Feb 2012) (click to enlarge):

“Of course, all their products are behind the bar at Amor y Amargo (which translates as ‘Love and Bitters’). The most popular drink on the menu is the house Gin & Tonic, made with their quinine-laced Commonwealth ‘tonic cordial’ mixed with soda water, Bittermens Hopped Grapefruit Bitters, Maraschino liqueur and, oh yeah, gin. The drink was named one of Time Out New York’s 100 Best Dishes and Drinks of 2011.”

The article can also be found online at Edible Manhattan’s website: Indigenous Industry: Amor y Amargo

The article can also be found online at Edible Brooklyn’s website: To Steep, Perchance to Dream.

“Over the past five years, a slew of new bitters, from companies such as Fee Brothers, the Bitter Truth and Bittermens — not to mention numerous bartenders creating their own house-made bitters — have ushered in a veritable Bitters Renaissance. Now, you can find peach, grapefruit and rhubarb bitters. Certain varieties, such as Fee Brothers Whiskey Barrel-Aged bitters and the Bitter Truth’s celery bitters and Bittermens Xocolatl Mole bitters, have quickly become new classics.”

via Bitters, the acid test for bartenders

“At first glance, you may think Avery Glasser’s Boiler-Bach is simply a glass of beer. But this riff on the Seelbach cocktail and Boilermaker technique, in which beer is mixed or chased with booze, melds hoppy, Pennsylvania-made Stoudt’s pilsner with Cointreau and a trio of bitters. A shot glass of bourbon is plopped in as a final touch.”

The Boiler-Bach is currently on the menu at Amor y Amargo in NYC’s East Village.

via Tasting Table
Photo Credit: tastingtable.com

Photo by Maggie Starbard for NPR

2 scoops vanilla ice cream
1 oz orange/vanilla syrup *
1 pinch or half bar spoon acid phosphate
5 drops Bittermens Orange Cream Citrate

In a fountain glass (or Collins glass), add vanilla ice cream, orange/vanilla syrup, and acid phosphate.  Top with seltzer water and stir until frothy.  Serve with a spoon and straw.

* Recipe for orange/vanilla syrup:
4 medium naval oranges
2 cups sugar
1 cup water
1 vanilla bean

Juice the oranges, reserving the rinds. Place the juice and rinds in a saucepan with the sugar and water. Add the seeds scraped from the vanilla bean, and the bean itself. Simmer mixture for about 20 minutes until mixture becomes thick and reduced. Remove from heat, strain out orange rinds and vanilla bean. Keep liquid in a glass container. Refrigerated, it stores for about a month.

via NPR: In Soda Revival, Fizzy Taste Bubbles Up From the Past

The Bittermens House Gin & Tonic – currently on the menu at Amor y Amargo – is one of Time Out New York’s 100 Best Dishes and Drinks of 2011. It incorporates both our Hopped Grapefruit Bitters and our new Commonwealth Tonic Cordial.

“The G is the only thing this complex cocktail has in common with your garden-variety G&T. The bartenders here swap out Schweppes for a boozy, quinine-laced tonic cordial (plus a splash of club soda), then pad the drink’s sweet and fruity notes with maraschino liqueur and a dose of Bittermens Hopped Grapefruit Bitters. The result is an orange-hued, floral-scented nip that coats the palate in sweet citrus, before delivering a bracingly bitter finale.”

via Time Out New York

“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.