I have about a good forty purchases that I have already made so if I can find a way to lump individual purchases into a larger weekly themed purchase moving forward I will do posts that way.

It is perhaps unfair for me to do a post that way this go around because I feel that both bitters deserve their own time in the spotlight so let me to my best to make that happen here.

Dr. Adam Elmegirab’s Recreation Boker’s Bitters (top picture)

Where do I start? For cocktail geeks like myself just having one bottle of bitters doesn’t make much sense. Different drinks and different spirits call for different types of bitters and I’m not just talking flavor I am of course talking style as well. I own six different types of orange cocktail bitters (Fee’s, Angostura’s, The Bitter Truth’s, Suntory’s, Reagan’s and my own five spice orange bitters) and there are cocktails I prefer each of these different types of bitters to be made with.

With that said there is nothing more exciting for cocktail geeks to find a new type of bitters, hear about a new type of bitters in production or successfully make their own bitters. Cocktail geeks are a historical lot who tend to care a lot about authentic reproduction and we salivate when we get the chance to try something long ago discontinued or hear rumors of a “defunct” product being reproduced for a commercial audience.

Something that I’ve become intrigued with after reading lots of old cocktail manuals are the widely made pre prohibition bitters that are no longer produced. I think the most well known of these relics are Abbot’s and Boker’s bitters. Both are said to have been made in the style of Angostura bitters with an aromatic base and distinct differences. I have been dieing to know what both taste like, especially after learning that to properly make a Japanese cocktail, my favorite brandy based cocktail, Boker’s bitters are required.

About two months back I was on a cocktail blog, I can’t remember which one it was as I subscribe to so many, and there was chatter of a certain Adam who was fairly accurately reproducing Boker’s bitters. Being the avid collector of cocktail bitters that I am I deduced that I had to track this Adam down and buy a bottle of these bitters no matter how much he wanted or how hard he resisted (as a side note Adam please don’t use this admission as a chip to hold my feet over the fire with regards to further releases). You see when I’ve heard other whisperings of new to the market bitters not being mass produced some of the makers that I’ve encountered have  been a little “stingy” and let’s just say not exactly the easiest folks in the world to deal with.

I’ll just say this about Adam, this dude is as good of a businessman as he is a chemist. There was no bullshit with Adam, he told me how much the bitters would cost, when he could get them out to me, asked me how many I wanted, waited until I could get my pay pal straightened out and then sent the bitters out ASAP, which arrived very quickly after I put the order in. The bitters come in a beautiful apothecary style, brown, glass bottle with information about Adam and his company, Evo-lution Bar Consultancy written in old style script on the label.

I’m working on coming up with an updated Japanese recipe that will pay homage to Adam and that will bed featured as my cocktail of the week shortly. In the meantime you can purchase Adam’s bitters here for about $18 US dollars and dream of his next project, a dandelion and burdock bitters!!! Cheers, Adam.

Urban Moonshine’s Organic Maple Bitters (bottom picture)

Now that I think about it, perhaps this double format post is well suited to these two different types of bitters because now we get to look at a more modern approach to mixology with the same type of passion clearly injected into the final product.

I read about Urban Moonshine’s line of organic bitters on Imbibe magazine’s blog and was instantly intrigued to learn about a company I had never even known existed.

I learned that Urban Moonshine, a Vermont based family run business, is most concerned with bitters in a more medicinal sense and wants to get medicine out of the bathroom cabinet and into the cupboard of everyday life. When looking at their line of products I wasn’t so much surprised to see aromatic or citrus bitters offered but I was more than pleased to see “maple” bitters, something I had not seen before offered. Most of us know that maple syrup holds a place as a sweetener in quite a few cocktails including the Apple Jack Rabbit, so maple bitters made more than enough immediate sense to me. I also like that the bitters are available in three different sizes which range in price from $4.99 to $29.99 so you can decide if you like the product before making an expensive commitment.

I went with the middle sized 2 oz bottle for $10.99 and within three days of placing my order the bottle with a dropper arrived. It came with tons of information about the brand and other products offered, suggested recipes (both with alcohol and without) and suggested medicinal uses. Urban Moonshine additionally offers herbal tonics and I plan on trying their longevity tonic in the near future.

These really are excellent bitters, rich with a nice not cloying sweetness that present a lot of depth and complexity.

I’m going to make a special drink with these bitters in the near future as well and post it as the cocktail of the week. I will let you know that the drink will contain these bitters as well as some bacon infused bourbon, fresh farm egg white and freshly squeezed orange juice. Look out for it.

In the meantime you can purchase any of Urban Moonshine’s products or tonics and learn more about the company here

Filed under: Booze Tagged: | Abbot's Bitters, Angostura Bitters, apothecary, Apple Jack Rabbit, aromatic bitters, bacon infused bourbon, dandelion and burdock, Dr Adam Elmegirab's Recreation Boker's Bitters, Evo-lution Bar Consultancy, farm eggs, Fee's Bitters, Five Spice Orange Bitters, Imbibe Magazine, Maple Syrup, old cocktail manuals, orange juice, Purchase Of The Week, Reagan's Bitters, Suntory Bitters, The Bitter Truth Bitters, The Japanese Cocktail, Urban Moonshine Organic Maple Bitters, Vermont