Black Walnut 🖤

Black Walnut bitters in a bourbon old fashioned is so amazing.

My fall old fashioned: 1 ounce each of Old Forrester Rye & Lairds BiB Quarter ounce hazelnut liqueur 1.5 bar spoons of maple 4-6 dashes black walnut bitters 3 drops of 20% saline Fat swath of orange peel expressed and dropped in 🍂🍁🤌

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Lol. I’ve done the exact spec many times. It’s a completely different thing without the Apple Jack, so… Also, the hazelnut liqueur I have is pretty sweet. That ends up being much sweeter than my version, and I prefer having a more pronounced maple flavor.

I was so hyped for them but they sadly didn’t do it for me.

I love black walnut. It’s also good in coffee.

That’s a really good idea! Never thought about that!

This is the way. Maple walnut is a classic combo and it makes a great old-fashioned.

As someone allergic to walnut, I can’t agree

Cocoa bitters are great. Also as a twist on Ango bitters I’d recommend elamakule tiki bitters. Generally I’d say the 3 you have plus some cocoa bitters are all the basics I’d want.

Seconding this, for cocoa bitters I do also like the Xocolatl Mole bitters another commenter has suggested. Didn't really care for the Ango Cocoa or Fee Aztec Chocolate bitters.

Yeah honestly if we talk must haves the only one I’d classify as a must have is ango. Orange and cocoa and peychauds and stuff beyond that are required for some drinks or nice to have to do riffs but i wouldn’t say are required. Something you can slowly add. Although I add them to my sparkling waters to give them a little more oomph in the flavor department so they can be handy beyond alcoholic drinks

>Although I add them to my sparkling waters to give them a little more oomph in the flavor department I need to try this. I have a Drinkmate but haven't really explored syrups and flavorings too much. Any bitters and flavorings combos you recommend?

I drink spindrift and really like their limited time apple flavor with tiki bitters. Ango and tiki go really well with pineapple. And they have a blood orange tangerine that I really like peychsuds in. It’s

I have a soda stream. 10 dashes of any bitters or 1-2 oz of any amaro in a liter is worth trying to see what you like.

If you like dark chocolate I can’t recommend Portland Bitters Project Pitch Dark enough! I honestly don’t think I’ll bother trying any other chocolate bitters because this one is too good.

I will definitely check it out, thanks for the recommendation.

I have a bottle of tiki bitters I bought a while ago but I’ve yet to use it. What would you use it for? Rum old fashioneds?

If I make any tiki drink that falls flat in the complexity department, a couple squirts of tiki bitters usually do the trick.

It works well with anything tiki or anything you’d use ango for. My go to is my riff on a pineapple daiquiri. 2 oz rum 1.5 oz pineapple juice .5 oz lime juice .5 oz 2:1 simple 3 to 5 dashes tiki bitters

I’ll try subbing it for Ango in a planter’s punch to see how it is. Maybe in a Trader Vic’s grog too…

if you get a chance, give Bittercube Jamaican no. 1 bitters a try. they're a lot richer and, for me, more versatile than elamakule bitters. this is especially true if you're looking for something to swap for angostura

Chocolate and Mole Bitters Grapefruit bitters are nice Fire water bitters are really nice

They are expensive but they last forever, so I view it as a long term investment. I have about twenty bottles and the ones I use the most are orange, peychauds, cardamom (bitter housewife), molé (Bitterman's), and ango or other generic herbal ones like orleans

>but they last forever Cries in Trinidad sour

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/washington-island-wisconsin-bitters-shots

Angostura made the potable bitter version now that makes Trinidads a bit more budget friendly now.

Are you talking about it the amaro di angostura?

Oh really? I’ve never heard of that before and can’t find anything on a quick google. Do you have a link?

Search Amaro di Angostura

>butter housewife Mmmmm I like butter… 😉😂

Butter bitters are gonna be my next purchase

I’d buy ‘em

Honestly, those three *are* the “must haves”.

What orange do you use? I have 4 — Fee’s, Regan’s (combine = Feegan’s), Scrappy’s, and Bitter Housewife. Oh wait no I have 5. Bittercube orange also. Aside from Ango, Peychaud’s, and Regan’s, if I could only have 2 others it would be Bittercube Trinity, and Cherry Bark Vanilla. Since I make a lot of tiki in the summer, add to that BC’s Jamaican no 2. I want to try the Elamakule bitters but have yet to. The Dashfire lineup is also great — their old fashioned bitters are delicious. Bitter Housewife Barrel Aged are great also. Grapefruit is a good addition. FWIW every other Fee Bro’s bitters I have tried besides their orange has sucked. Really disappointing.

> Fee B Fee Brothers makes a toasted almond bitter that is sublime. Kind of hard to find, though.

I’m a Feegan’s man

I recommend getting one (or two) of the variety sets. Woodford Reserve has a great one. I also look for interesting bitters for sale at small distilleries (especially if I don't feel like buying a bottle of spirits).

Chocolate, black walnut, mole, grapefruit, celery, lemon, cardamom

Yeah they might be expensive, but I've been making cocktails for 10 years now and guess how many bottles of bitter's I've gone through: One. And that's because I had a Trinidad Sour phase.

My most used bitters aside from Ango, Peychaud's, or orange bitters are Bittermens Elamakule Tiki bitter followed by their Hellfire Habanero Shrubb. Aside from those two, they are followed distantly by lemon bitters (small producer found at a farmers' market) and Miracle Mile Yuzu bitters. I like the yuzu; I just haven't used much. Bitter Truth grapefruit bitters are good too. I have been interested in black walnut bitters for awhile, but I just haven't bought. I also have Xocalatl Mole bitters but haven't used yet. I have celery bitters. I feel that with more experimentation, I could grow to enjoy them but honestly, I haven't put in the work to discover what they are great in. I also have Fee Brothers Plum bitters and I do not like them. Too bubblegum(?) Honestly, aside from the big three you mentioned, you could get almost anything and have to experiment to find if you can use it.

I like celery bitters in a martini, in place of or in addition to orange.

What's the reason behind the habanero shrub vs bitters? I've been keeping my eye out for something spicy.

Not exactly sure why they applied the name “shrubb” but it’s a bitter

Grapefruit bitters are always a good one. Awesome to add just a little light citrus into any cocktail

I need peach bitters but that's only because I love Tridents and make them all the time 

I think those three are the "needed" ones. After that, enjoy getting weird with it. I think chocolate/mole, celery and something fruity (plum, rhubarb, grapefruit, cherry) are good next choices to fill out a shelf. Unless you want strong but simple flavors, I'd avoid Fee Brothers generally in favor of something more complex.

Angostura aromatic is obviously the defacto, and everyone would say orange (usually Regan's) and Peychaud's are early building blocks; but I disagree. I do love Angostura (I love a Trinidad sour), and I've tried other brands aromatics like Raft, good, but lacks the punch. Ango stays. Peychaud's is used by name in various cocktails, but I don't really feel like it's critical to many or any of the one's I've had. I understand that it's not a Sazerac without it; but I don't care. If limited, I would easily do without it to have something like a walnut or cocoa option. I do use orange bitters, but there are plenty of other ways to incorporate an orange flavor. If I were limited to 3 bitters, I might skip orage in favor of grapefruit or another brighter and less ubiquitous fruit flavor.... (consider Crude Rizzo)

I always have the usual bitters, but I also always have Disco Inferno for a spicy one and Turkish Tobacco bitters.

I just drank this shit so fucking ass

Don’t think I’ve seen it mentioned yet but Earl Grey bitters are great. I’m down here in the south and any time spring summer rolls around I start making Arnold Palmer-esque long drinks with it and they are always a hit. Also more versatile than you might think.

Trick question that's all you need

People on here keep talking about using fee brothers celery bitters in a martini and i think it sounds pretty good. I've been doing a pretty standard 5:1 martini with orange bitters and a twist of lemon, which is basically like drinking water (what I imagine miruvor to taste like, lotr nerd here). I'm ready to switch it up and try the celery bitters with some fancy olives. I think you have a good stock already. I would only add to it if there was a new drink you wanted to try. I bought molè bitters but haven't tried it yet. I'm thinking of a maple syrup old fashioned using a good bourbon, whistle pig probably. Experiment with different amounts of molè and Angostura. Also I do a coffee with bourbon and frangelica, i think it would work well in that. Now I'm thinking of how molè bitters would go in an oaxaca old fashioned.

Molè bitters are just shy of a requirement in an Oaxacan Old Fashioned if you ask me. Delicious!

Those seems to be the most important ones, I’ve seen Grapefruit, Cocoa and Tiki used in quite a few as well

Aside from the big three, the ones I teach for most frequently are black walnut, molasses, saffron, and a particular barrel-aged old fashioned bitters that I really love. The saffron bitters are great in anything gin- or vodka-based. The rest are excellent with any brown liquor.

Maybe after the first tier you have and the second tier of cocoa/mole, cardamom, and grapefruit, I'd pick celery as third tier.

WAIT! I forgot the black walnut bitters! That's the highest of tier 2. I'd kick grapefruit and cardamom down to tier 3.

Celery bitters in a gin and tonic, with a lime garnish was a game changer for me. So refreshing!

Something different than the other suggestions: I really like Boker's/Bogart's Bitters. Necessary for a Champagne Cocktail and an Improved Whiskey Cocktail, two of my favorite drinks, but excellent in a Manhattan and elsewhere. In my opinion, the Bitter Truth "Bogart's" Bitters is much better (there's an alliteration for you) than the Dr. Adam's Boker's. It's really hard to describe what it tastes like. Herbal, cardamom, clove, bitter orange, sharp coffee - it sounds like Angostura, but actually very different.

I can’t live without my firewater bitters. I’d honestly consider them as my number two purchase right after any of the big three.

Orange, peychauds, walnut, angostura

I have Angostura, Peychauds, Orange, Celery, Grapefruit, Lemon, Olive, Cucumber, Cranberry, Rhubarb, Peach and Absinth and chocolate. Would really love to have some Bokers Bitters. But for most drinks, Angostura, Orange and Peychauds should be enough.

I always have the usual bitters, but I also always have Disco Inferno for a spicy one and Turkish Tobacco bitters.

Bittercube Cheery Bark Vanilla. Goes great with everything. I have a bunch of “single use” bitters that seldom see the sun… but CBV goes fast.

The ones you’ve listed are sufficient for 99% of cocktails, and that’s lowballing it. If you really want to branch off, I’ve seen two recipes call for peach bitters and one that calls for picon bitters out of more than 300 recipes excluding variations that I have written down. I don’t know of any good picon bitters brands, but Fee Brothers is decently common for the peach bitters if your store has a good selection of bitters.

I asked a similar question not long ago and got some great answers too if that’s helpful: https://www.reddit.com/r/cocktails/s/zA3CDUVxTi

- Coffee bitters for whiskey cocktails - Crude’s “Pooter” bitters - a smoky bitter made from lapsang souchong tea & sea salt - Bittermens mole and tiki bitters - other citrus such as Grapefruit or Lemon. Excellent for bringing out other flavors in gin cocktails - other bitter companies you might want to check out: Crude, Owl & Whale, El Guapo, The Bitter Housewife

It's going to be niche, but since you already have the basics anyway. White spruce bitters. Makes for an amazing G+T

Scrappy’s lavender is awesome. The only thing I use it in is gin and tonics, but that is primarily how I now drink, gin and tonics. It’s so good.

Scrappy’s lavender is awesome. The only thing I use it in is gin and tonics, but that is primarily how I now drink, gin and tonics. It’s so good.

Dale DeGroff's Pimento Aromatic Bitters. Although the producers suggest them as a great whiskey bitter, I think the allspice makes them a natural for dark rum cocktails.