Angostura bitters is a concentrated flavoring agent made from roots, berries, herbs and plants that is 80 proof (40% of the product contains alcohol.) It’s used to aid digestion, flavor food and cocktails and can even help cure a case of the hiccups. Angostura bitters are considered non-potable meaning that they aren’t meant to be consumed “neat” or “on the rocks.”
In 1824, a German physician by the name of Dr. Johann Gottlieb Benjamin Siegert developed Angostura bitters in Venezuela for use as a remedy for stomachaches and ailments. Angostura bitters was named after the town of Angostura in Venezuela. It contains no angostura bark, which is a medicinal bark, which is also named after the same town.
In 1830, the product was exported to England and Trinidad. This is when the product began getting used as a flavor enhancer in a number of cocktails.
Interestingly enough, this product is actually not bitter in taste when it’s added to food and drinks. “Bitters” is just a generic category for products made from gentian, aromatic herbs and spices.
So why is the label so large? According to the Angostura bitters website, there a two different reasons on why the label is so large. The first reason is that it is a result of the Caribbean attitude. When someone ordered the wrong sized label, the mistake was noticed but nobody did anything about it because they left it up to someone to correct the mistake. Nobody ever took the initiative to correct the over sized label mistake. Instead, the company decided to stick with the over sized label and has since become the product’s trademark.
Another reason for the over sized label? Originally there were two people put in charge of the packaging: one man to buy a bottle and another man to buy a label. Both men went out on their own in search of a label and a bottle. When they met back at the office, they realized that the label was much larger than the bottle. There wasn’t any time left to correct the mistake so they just decided to make it work.
Some popular drinks that call for Angostura bitters:
Manhattan
Rob Roy
Old Fashioned
Champagne Cocktail
Comments
Awesome article, Kathleen. I never really thought about bitters or the label until now. Cool.
Hi Kathleen. Thanks for featuring Angostura aromatic bitters. I am the PR manager at the place where it is made in Trinidad. Sorry to hear that someone was irate about something that you wrote about the bitters and the label. To me the article was very much to the point, acurate and interesting for someone who may not know about our product. As you know, every bartender should know the product and have it as part of their staples in the bar.
Hey was also trying to follow you on Twitter but it is blocked.
Thanks Giselle. When you write on a public forum like I do, you are bound to offend somebody, even if that was never the intention. I never thought my little article on bitters could be turned around into me negatively stereotyping a whole group of people. At least I am reaching readers all the way in Trinidad which I think is pretty cool. :)
My Twitter is blocked due to those annoying spambots. Follow me and when the Twitter site comes back up (I'm still unable to log in on my home computer), I will accept your follow request.
Thanks Again!!
Wondering why you deleted the comments that countered your argument at the examiner.com and on your personal blog? Sure do what you want at your blog, but some one like the examiner deleting the public's opinion is more than biased.
Wondering,
I deleted the comments because they were turning my innocent and informative article on Angostura bitters into a racial/cultural profiling argument, which my article was originally never intended to be about.
I reserve the right to delete any comments that I see fit.
good article. everyone should have a bottle of bitters! i stockpile it cause 1) it reminds me of home (i.e., sweet Trinidad), 2) it's good for seasoning all meats, and 3) if you add it to any drink even lemonade/limeade and it makes the drink better.
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