INSTITUTE OF HOTEL MANAGEMENT, RAJ BAGH, SRINAGAR -190008
Bitters
A bitter is traditionally an alcoholic preparation flavoured with botanical matter such that
the end result is characterized by a bitter, sour, or bittersweet flavour.
The botanical ingredients used in preparing bitters have historically consisted of
aromatic herbs, bark, roots, and/or fruit for their flavour and medicinal properties. Some
of the more common ingredients are
a) Cascarilla
b) Cassia
c) Gentian
d) orange peel, and
e) Cinchona bark.
Amer Picon Bitters is a dark-red liqueur with a bitter orange flavour made in France.
It's meant to be mixed with beer (or drunk with beer as a chaser.) Many like to mix it
also with white wine. It is very popular in Alsace.
Amer Picon Bitters is made from neutral alcohol infused with
a) Fresh and dried orange peel
b) Cinchona bark (quinine)
c) Dried gentian root
d) Spices & Herbs.
Amer Picon was 39% alcohol up until the 1970s; it was then lowered to 25% alcohol,
and lowered again, in 1989, to 19%
Angostura Bitters are an aromatic bitter "sauce" made from tropical spices and herbs.
It's sold in small bottles.
The exact recipe is a closely-guarded secret, divided into four pieces and stored in four
separate safes.
One of its main ingredients is gentian, a European root.
2nd Year of BSc H&HA. Food & Beverage Service
Module Material Alcoholic Beverages Bitters by Javaid Ahmad Bhat. javaidbhat@[Link]
INSTITUTE OF HOTEL MANAGEMENT, RAJ BAGH, SRINAGAR -190008
The label is too large for the bottle. Company mythology has it that at one point, labels
too large were delivered from the printer, but they used them all the same: the oversized
label became part of the identity.
Angostura Bitters were invented by Dr Johann Gottlieb Benjamin Siegert in 1824 while
serving Simon Bolivar as Surgeon-General in the town of Angostura, Venezuela.
In the late 1800s, owing to continued political instability in Venezuela (plus a change),
the company moved to Trinidad, where it has remained since, made in a large factory.
The company is still owned by the family.
Campari is a red apritif that is mildly bitter, with a hint of sweetness.
It is made from
a) Herbs
b) Peel from bitter oranges
c) Roots
d) Spices
e) Sugar
f) 86 ingredients in all, steeped in alcohol, then distilled into a concentrate, then
mixed with pure alcohol.
g) The red colouring comes from Cochineal Extract.
The formula is kept a secret. Nine people know parts of the formula (as of 2003); a tenth
person, the President, is the only one who knows the entire formula.
The alcohol content is 25%.
Campari is classically served with soda water and a twist of lemon or orange.
Fernet Branca Bitters are made from a grape alcohol base, flavoured with over 40
ingredients, which include
Absinthe, aloe, anise seed, bay leaves, bitter orange, basil, cardamom, chamomile,
cinchona bark, colombus, echinacea, galangal, gentian, liquorice, mushrooms, myrrh,
nutmeg, peppermint, rhubarb, rue, saffron, sage, valerian and zedoary.
It is aged in oak casks for a year, and ends up as a dark amber-coloured liquid that is
40% alcohol, sold in 750 ml bottles.
Fernet Branca is a digestif for after meals. It may, however, also be drunk straight up,
used in cocktails, or splashed into fizzy mineral water.
Underberg Bitters is a digestif made from herbs and gentian root. It doesn't contain
sugar, as other bitters do. It is sold in small bottles wrapped in brown paper.
2nd Year of BSc H&HA. Food & Beverage Service
Module Material Alcoholic Beverages Bitters by Javaid Ahmad Bhat. javaidbhat@[Link]
INSTITUTE OF HOTEL MANAGEMENT, RAJ BAGH, SRINAGAR -190008
Underberg Bitters were developed by a Hubert Underberg, who first brewed it
commercially in 1846. As of 2005, the company is being run by Emil Underberg, the fifth
generation.
Fernet Luxardo Bitters have traces of menthol and eucalyptus in the taste and aroma.
The ingredients include liquorice, cardamom, cinchona bark, cinnamon, gentian and
saffron.
Fernet Luxardo Bitters are made in the Veneto Region of Italy.
2nd Year of BSc H&HA. Food & Beverage Service
Module Material Alcoholic Beverages Bitters by Javaid Ahmad Bhat. javaidbhat@[Link]