Bitters: A Spirited History of a Classic Cure-All, with Cocktails, Recipes, and Formulas

by Brad Thomas Parsons, Ed Anderson (Photographer)

Gone are the days when a lonely bottle of Angostura bitters held court behind the bar. A cocktail renaissance has swept across the country, inspiring in bartenders and their thirsty patrons a new fascination with the ingredients, techniques, and traditions that make the American cocktail so special. And few ingredients have as rich a history or serve as fundamental a role in our beverage heritage as bitters.  Author and bitters enthusiast Brad Thomas Parsons traces the history of the world’s most storied elixir, from its earliest “snake oil” days to its near evaporation after Prohibition to its ascension as a beloved (and at times obsessed-over) ingredient on the contemporary bar scene. Parsons writes from the front lines of the bitters boom, where he has access to the best and boldest new brands and flavors, the most innovative artisanal producers, and insider knowledge of the bitters-making process.  Whether you’re a professional looking to take your game to the next level or just a DIY-type interested in homemade potables, Bitters has a dozen recipes for customized blends--ranging from Apple to Coffee-Pecan to Root Beer bitters--as well as tips on sourcing ingredients and step-by-step instructions fit for amateur and seasoned food crafters alike.  Also featured are more than seventy cocktail recipes that showcase bitters’ diversity and classics like the Manhattan (if you ever get one without bitters, send it back), old-guard favorites like the Martinez, contemporary drinks from Parsons’s own repertoire like the Shady Lane, plus one-of-a-kind libations from the country’s most pioneering bartenders. Last but not least, there is a full chapter on cooking with bitters, with a dozen recipes for sweet and savory bitters-infused dishes. Part recipe book, part project guide, part barman’s manifesto, Bitters is a celebration of good cocktails made well, and of the once-forgotten but blessedly rediscovered virtues of bitters.

Genres: Nonfiction, Cookbooks, Food, Cocktails, Cooking, Food and Drink, History

420 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Brad Thomas Parsons is the author of "Bitters: A Spirited History of a Classic Cure-All (winner of the James Beard and IACP Cookbook Awards), "Amaro: The Spirited World of Bittersweet, Herbal Liqueurs", and "Distillery Cats: Profiles in Courage of the World’s Most Spirited Mousers." His forthcoming book, "Last Call: Bartenders on Their Final Drink and the Wisdom and Rituals of Closing Time," will be published October 22, 2019 by Ten Speed Press. Parsons received an MFA in writing from Columbia University, and his work has appeared in "Bon Appétit,", "Food & Wine," "Travel + Leisure"," Lucky Peach", and PUNCH, among others. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Reviews

[Richard Derus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Real Rating: 4.5* of five, rounded down

The Publisher Says: Gone are the days when a lonely bottle of Angostura bitters held court behind the bar.

A cocktail renaissance has swept across the country, inspiring in bartenders and their thirsty patrons a new fascination with the ingredients, techniques, and traditions that make the American cocktail so special. And few ingredients have as rich a history or serve as fundamental a role in our beverage heritage as bitters.

Author and bitters enthusiast Brad Thomas Parsons traces the history of the world's most storied elixir, from its earliest "snake oil" days to its near evaporation after Prohibition to its ascension as a beloved (and at times obsessed-over) ingredient on the contemporary bar scene. Parsons writes from the front lines of the bitters boom, where he has access to the best and boldest new brands and flavors, the most innovative artisanal producers, and insider knowledge of the bitters-making process.

Whether you're a professional looking to take your game to the next level or just a DIY-type interested in homemade potables, Bitters has a dozen recipes for customized blends–ranging from Apple to Coffee-Pecan to Root Beer bitters–as well as tips on sourcing ingredients and step-by-step instructions fit for amateur and seasoned food crafters alike.

Also featured are more than seventy cocktail recipes that showcase bitters' diversity and versatility: classics like the Manhattan (if you ever get one without bitters, send it back), old-guard favorites like the Martinez, contemporary drinks from Parsons's own repertoire like the Shady Lane, plus one-of-a-kind libations from the country's most pioneering bartenders. Last but not least, there is a full chapter on cooking with bitters, with a dozen recipes for sweet and savory bitters-infused dishes.

Part recipe book, part project guide, part barman's manifesto, Bitters is a celebration of good cocktails made well, and of the once-forgotten but blessedly rediscovered virtues of bitters.

I RECEIVED AN ARC FROM THE PUBLISHER. THANK YOU.

My Review: This is a classic gift book for the Dad who drinks, has all his basic needs met, and still you need to hand him something under the Yule tree. The book won the 2012 James Beard Foundation Book Award for Beverages. It's not as much a history of the concept of "bitters" as it is a practical guide to using bitters in drinks and food, as well as lovely images of what they could look like.


the back cover with its celebrity endorsements

From my point of view this is the kind of gift that serves your need to acknowledge Dad/father-in-law, his need to expand or polish hs repertoire, and both of y'all to get a good drink.

There are several other food recipes, and the page layout...sorry, no samples are available online...has a column on the outside dedicated to ingredient lists with the illustrations and methods lined up on the inner page gutters. It works to make the usability of the recipes, whether for drinks or desserts, fine for use with book-stands. A nice touch, typical of the publisher; and it translates well to Kindle editions.

[Rooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok, so on the one hand, while I love to read cookbooks and the like, I expected this book to have more history and fewer recipes; it has sections on history and lots of lovely li'l anecdotes, but it's really more of a practical guide than a history, and my head was all prepped for a history. In a good way. I mean, I love me some random history of a niche subject. Actually, there's this great book on the Mann Act . . .

Ahem. Back on track.

Now, on the other hand, it has recipes and advice for making one's own bitters! Holy smokes! It also has recipes for drinks - mainly classic cocktails or variations thereon, using base spirits that are more often than not currently popular among the fancy drink set (Yes, I'm looking at YOU, St. Germain, because I have yet to be convinced of your merits, no matter how many ways I've tried you) - and for using bitters in food, even Bitters Compound Butters, which you'd better believe I have every intention of trying. It's also got an amazing resources section (no really, it's Tony-the-flippin'-Tiger GRRREAT, in my opinion) and a lot of really fun tidbits about the current cocktail scene.

Clearly I am behind the times since taking a sabbatical from the bartending trade, though I doubt I e'er worked in places that are the sorts of beacons of mixology Parsons tends to cover in this book. Regardless, apparently making bitters is totally a thing now. Especially in Brooklyn. And our author, he's a total amalgamation of a certain kind of Brooklyn and Seattle, a fact about which he makes no bones, and also a fact that is really, really evident. Really. Ask me about the intro to one section that explains his love of bourbon and sometime repetitious use of same by making an analogy to the notion that occasionally, well, you just need two Pavement songs on a mixtape. Yes, really. It's not particularly annoying, unless you're, for whatever reason, predisposed to being annoyed by that sort of thing. Me, I was ok with it.

So yes, at times it felt more like a history of the modern cocktail revival and a catalogue of bitters than a per se history of bitters. In that way, reading it was akin to when you take a sip of a glass of clear liquid thinking it's water, and it turns out it's gin. Are you sad? No, probably not. However, are you rather a bit disquieted? Hell yes. It just takes a second to fully adjust one's expectations.

As such, when trying to decide what to rate it, I was torn. In the end, I felt that the great info contained herein definitely outweighed my mild chagrin at the somewhat misleading title, and went with the 4/5.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a bit disappointing for me. I hoped for some in-depth history on the subject of bitters; a few cocktail recipes with bitters as a focus; such as in the magnificent Trinidad Sour; and a lot of recipes and formulas for making bitters, including a thorough discussion of the flavors, aromas, bitterness level, and other qualities of the various ingredients that go into different bitters.

Instead, the book provides quite a brief history; merely a baker's dozen formulas for house-made bitters, all of which, as far as I can ascertain, are made using exactly the same technique (thereby padding out the book by a dozen pages); and a substantial number of cocktail and kitchen recipes. If you're somewhat of a cocktail novice, some of the recipes (such as the delicious Trident) might be new to you, but if you're an enthusiast, you won't find much that's new here. You will however find some things that will make you wince, or at least raise an eyebrow. Bitters in a Mint Julip? No. Just no.

The section on bitters in the kitchen is pretty interesting, however. While a few items in there seem gratuitous (bitters vinaigrette, compound bitters butters), others such as the Chinese-style spareribs or the bitters ice cream look interesting.

All in all, this seems more like a starting point for an exploration of the subject than the definitive guide I'd been hoping for. It'll stay on the shelf with my other booze-related books, but I'm not sure how often I'll pick it up.

[Noelle Flavin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well this was disappointing. Some recipes for house bitters without any writing on individual botanicals. After a VERY brief history of bitters, about one page on making your own, and 10ish recipes of not super precise bitters blends, this turns into just another cocktail recipe book.

[Anne Frisbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely wonderful book. My favorite part was the history of bitters which was enlightening and completely entertaining.

Brad Thomas Parsons is my kind of person: "When I'm into something - a band, a book, a bourbon - I tend to get a bit obsessed." Clearly, a "bit" is said with loads of sarcasm as this book - which is filled with so much passion and random in-depth knowledge - is born from one of his "minor" obsessions. BTP's passion for bitters really shines through, and that is what makes this book an absolute joy to read.

I also enjoyed his later book Amaro: The Spirited World of Bittersweet, Herbal Liqueurs with Cocktails, Recipes, and Formulas - though I think that this book on bitters - a narrower subject than Amaro - was covered with more even more passion and depth.

Some of the fascinating lessons about bitters in the book: 1) Peychaud's and Angostura were really the only two bitters with success from the early to mid 1850s until the modern cocktail revolution around the turn of the 21st century with The Fee Brothers "keeping the flame" those 150 years, but not doing much else than that. Clearly that is not the case today where the early 21st century is exploding in bitters! 2) Bitters are classified as non-potable alcohol and are usually regulated as food not alcohol, despite their high alcohol content but because you only use a dash. 3) Regans Orange Bitters No 6 (not #4 or #5 - despite those recipes being published in earlier books by the Regans) is what we buy today because #5 would have been classified as alcohol because it was too delicious and consumers would have not limited usage to a dash or two! Lots of other interesting facts about bitters but those are a few of the highlights.

Loved the book for the history, but have also been trying the cocktail recipes with success. Cocktails I have tried so far are - Pith Helmet, Shady Lady and Tippsy Nissley - which were all good and worth having again. Considering trying the food recipes - especially the Broiled Bitters Grapefruit. I am not sure that I want to try DIY bitters - because there are so many fabulous ones available on the market - but for those that want to make their own I am sure this is the book for you.

[Jeff Mauch · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a well researched book on the History of bitters that is both interesting and informative. I think the issue here is that its like 3 books in one. The first third is you history and background on what bitters are, how they're made, and how they've come and gone over the years. The next third of the book are recipes to make your own bitters at home. The last portion of the book then are drink recipes that have bitters in them. While I found the history portion valuable, the idea of making my own bitters is daunting and frankly who has the time to go get teaspoons and pinches of all these roots and herbs to do it. I found the drink recipe at the end to be a little lacking as well, mostly because a lot of the recipes were ones the writer just thought were interesting and many involved required ingredients that even your home cocktail nut would have to go out of their way to procure. That said, it's an interesting book on a subject for which information is lacking and the history portion was done very well.

[Eric Peterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely excited to expand me olde bitters library (making them at home is certainly daunting but some recipes look doable), to ensure I have a wide variety on-hand to tackle some of the more accessible cocktail recipes (and the party nuts!) in this book. The writing is warm and personal, and the historical anecdotes were eye-opening and entertaining.

[Mili · Rating 5 out of 5]

Al comprarlo pensé que el enfoque iba a estar más en la parte teórica, pero resultó ser mucho más completo, ya que la mitad del libros una compilación muy buena de recetas para hacer bitters caseros, para la realización de algunos tragos, tanto clásicos como modernos, y hasta de algunas comidas que utilizan estos ingredientes.

Buenas fotografías, recetas claras, bien escrito... Creo que este libro es fundamental en la biblioteca (física o virtual) de cualquier aficionado a la coctelería. Vale la pena.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's a lot of good info here on contemporary cocktail culture, as well as a great collection of drink (and food) recipes. It's also a beautifully designed book--it's lovely just to leaf through. This is great volume if you're looking for new things to try in your home bar or kitchen or if you're a craft cocktail fan/avid DIYer. If you are looking for the history of the usage of bitters, though, you'd be better off looking elsewhere.

[Niki Ganong · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is worth a purchase as a recipe book. But I have heard the stories elsewhere before.

[loafingcactus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three stars is not a dis from me, 3 is a perfectly adequate book! I read the Kindle preview and wasn’t going to buy the book, but then a bad review here pointed out it had things I wanted so thank you for that!

I can’t remember exactly what was in the book and what is in some other reading I’ve done, but some of this was right up my ally as a specialist is FDA regulation. After prohibition passed as a constitutional amendment, congress had to put it into law. The 600 pound gorilla in the room was vanilla. The vanilla lobby got “extracts” defined as one item in an alcohol carrier and exempted form prohibition. The mixed extract industry was left out in the cold.

They had always been selling themselves as meds and tried that to get around prohibition, but this was just as FDA was taking up power too so that became an unworkable path.

Today, food in the US is is defined as 0.5% alcohol or less and “extracts”. If something is over that it either has to be classified as alcohol or it has to be so unpleasant to eat straight (someone in ATF has the unenviable job of checking) that no one would do it. So for example soy sauce is up to 3% alcohol generally, but it’s legal. As are mixed extracts, so long as they have a buttering agent (things like wormwood) added. Put them in a drink (or alcohol or nonalcohol, or food) with some sugar to reverse the bittering and voila, flavoring.

This book discusses the history of bitters, provides recipes for bitters, for a number of alcohol drinks (you can also add bitters to sodas to dress them up, to coffee and to shrubs - vinegar based drinks that preceded sodas and are making a comeback) and for foods.

It was a very enjoyable book if you wish to be immersed (ha!) in the topic of bitters.

[Min · Rating 4 out of 5]

After a quick fire history of bitters in America, the author moves into the modern resurgence of this cocktail mixer. From the Post-Prohibition days when only New Orleans original Peychaud's Bitters. and now-located-in-Trinidad Angostura Aromatic Bitters. originating in Venezuela were the only two products standing for the American market. Fee Brothers expanded into bitters in the 50s. The landscape was barren until around the esrly 2000s such as The Bitter Truth, Bittermens, and Dr. Adam Elmegirab's Bitters offered through the House of Botanicals Urban Moonshine is more about the original purpose of s tonic. yey, certainly, be used for cocktails as well.
The author shares the stories of the leading small-batch makers, even a few rising stars, and a holy grail (Hermes Bitters of Japan). Continuing with that knowledge in mind, the author shares where to buy them, how to taste them and how to use them.
Now, fully equipped with this information, the author delves into several recipes for creating one's own bitters. The entire second half of the book is dedicated to majority drinks recipes, with a smattering of items to eat. Resources page assists the intrepid bitters hunter, and a section for further reading "for the cocktail enthusiast".

[celestine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this book feels like or is considered a “standard” in the bitters-making world but it feels a little outclassed and outdated by more recent books such as Botany at the Bar. I’m not sure if I enjoy his particular process for bitters-making where you also steep your bittering agents in the water you use to dilute your product, based on an attempt to make a few amari in a similar way recently. And the cocktails section, which is probably more than half the book, is nothing too special. You’ve got your classic cocktails that feature bitters and a few new concoctions but cocktail-making has advanced so much in the decade since this was published, at least in terms of incorporating (or reincorporating rather) bitter flavors from bitters/amari/etc. Nonetheless I think it’s still a good resource for the home liqueur/bitters-maker, at the very least for cross-reference when developing your own recipes and processes. I’m actually most intrigued by the last section, which features cooking recipes utilizing bitters, and will certainly be trying out a few of the recipes listed therein in the future.

[Rollo · Rating 1 out of 5]

One star might be quite harsh, but what can I do for a book that has 11 pages of acknowledgements and like 30 pages of content.

Bitters are wonderful. They are exciting, complex and with a lot of history. Truly worth writing a book about.

But this is not it. It’s dated; the bottle list, amongst other things, states that a 15 year old Pappy belongs in your home bar. That’s a couple of thousand dollars. It doesn’t know what it is. Is it a book for cocktail nerds who want to learn all about cocktails or a book for people who need to be told they need a cutting board to make bitters? And then it’s stuffed with recipes, with cutesy stories to back up the 11 pages of acknowledgements - the author really knows all these people.

This book is redundant and useless. If you want to know about the botanicals in bitters, read the drunken botanist. If you want the science, read Liquid Intelligence. If you want recipes, read the Death & Co. book. All of them are far more interesting and comprehensive.

This one is a magazine article posing as a book.

[Dan A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fine book, if short, probably the most comprehensive book on bitters and their history I've encountered. Well written with no errors in the EPUB copy that I can discern. The photographs are attractive. In typical food/bev book fashion, only about the first 40% of the book is actually on bitters, the rest is cocktail and food recipes, an index, etc. The recipes are solid and detailed instructions are given on how to make the sub-ingredient syrups, tinctures, creams and sauces.

The author, whom I've met, is jovial, fun, and doesn't take all this practice of getting drunk in creative ways TOO seriously. I learned a good deal about bitters, although it must be said that a publication date of 2011 in the cocktail world is eons ago and many more bitters have since entered the market. A quick read and Recommended.

[Adam Leader-Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing; I had expected a book with detailed descriptions of the ingredients needed to make bitters, arming the reader with the tools needed to experiment, along with guidelines for what type of bitters to try in what kind of drinks. Instead, there's a bit of history, some bitters recipes, waaaay too many classic cocktail recipes that aren't necessarily even bitters-centric and are freely available all over the Internet, and a puzzling number of new school cocktails that also don't really highlight bitters specifically or do anything to reveal their role. Oh, and there is just WAY too much name dropping and (for some reason) references to the band Pavement (whom I like! but come on!).

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best nonfiction and cook book I’ve ever read...and I read it cover to cover in one sitting! Brad Thomas Parsons includes everything you could possibly ever want to know about bitters, and his writing style is so engaging that I was hooked from the intro! This writer could write about mud and I feel like it would be fantastic. Anyone who loves classic cocktails or wants to know more about bringing complex flavours into their drinks will love this. The recipes in the second half of the book (for tinctures, bitters and then cocktails) all sound fantastic. If you’ve always wondered why bitters are added to drinks, read it.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5…probably my biggest issue is the title. It is a 231 page book with the subtitle “A Spirited History of a Classic Cure-All.” This brief history makes up the first 38 pages, with a decidedly American focus (I mean, I think the British Navy gets a paragraph).

Following is a similarly sized chunk on making bitters at home, but the bulk of the book is made up of bitters-forward cocktail recipes (not including a reminder that I should immediately have a nice bitters and soda). It is always pleasant to see a recent discovery (for me)…the pink gin.

[LeeAnn Close · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a bitters newbie, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. And recommended it to my husband, as well. The history was interesting. And all the various brands and types of bitters! Oh my! This book gave me a new world to discover and enjoy. And I have to try the recipe for the Hot & Sticky Bitter Wings and Sweet & Spicy Bitter Bar Nuts. We will also be trying the Ten Essential Bitters and definitely the Underberg. This was a great book gift to get!

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel like anyone who is going to pick up a book about bitters probably isn't looking for advice about how their bar should contain ice and a shaker.

It's a cute book about cocktails in 2010 with a bit of history about bitters and a lot of drink recipes. I was hoping for either a lot more history or more information about what various ingredients add to bitters making (I realized i had no idea what ginseng tasted like on its own and had to put the book down to find out)

[Daryl Ducharme · Rating 4 out of 5]

Did not leave me bitter

I heard about this book in another that I was reading. Since I've been wondering, "What are bitters and how or why would I use them?" I immediately went to find and read this. It did not disappoint.

This book is many things. It's a history book, a DIY guide for making your own, a basic recipe book, and a collection of recipe blog stores all rolled into one. In fact, that's probably the only negative about this book, it's too many different things.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bitters can be traced from "snake oil" days to modern fay affectation. It's now a world of cocktail nerds, vintage bar books and the internet. Shake and stir, that.


It did inspire me to finally pick of a three-pack of Underberg. But the recipe list left me largely cold. But I will try the Smoked Lemonade,

[Jamie West · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entertaining and informative

I really enjoyed this book. It’s a fascinating history of bitters, as well as discussions about different craft bitter makers around the US and even around the world. I had no idea there was so much to know! I really appreciate the recipes and can’t wait to try them. It’s made me appreciate bitters even more!

[Nikola · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great information and fairly entertaining, and overall, really pretty build quality. As a side note, this book is really resonant, like way more than your average book. I'm definitely going to record some samples thumping around on this book.

[Stuart · Rating 3 out of 5]

A concise history of bitters that also charts the rise of the craft cocktail. Well designed and full of great recipes. Shout out to my homie BTP for including the same boilerplate text across like 30 full pages of DIY bitters recipes. Nobody can fill a book better!

[Chris Quartly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable book, the second half of the book (recipes, etc) were a little superfluous for me as I was only really interested in the history and how-to make your own bitters, but that's just my own circumstance.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very Fun Read

This was so much fun to read and very interesting. I plan to use several of the recipes in my own kitchen as well as seeing if I can try some of the drinks on the rare occasions I find myself in a bar.

[Kirk Dobihal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Has given me incite into the world of bitters. Maybe even make my own. Imbibe ya'll.

[George Marshall · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading and experimenting. I would have had appreciated a much heavier hand in history and lighter on the recipes, but the recipe quality and commentsry was itself quite enjoyable.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun read about bitters and cocktails. Can't wait to try a couple of recipes, both bitters and cocktails.