Angostura Bitters
Angostura bitters is a concentrated, high-proof blend of botanicals, gentian root, and spices originally developed in Venezuela, recognizable by its oversized label and papery wrapping. Used only in dashes, it adds aromatic bitterness and spice rather than volume. It is one of the most widely used flavouring agents in cocktail history.
Common uses
- dashed into stirred spirit-forward cocktails
- adds aromatic complexity to sours
Buying & storage
Keeps more or less indefinitely: Alcohol is preserving it. An open bottle keeps for a very long time, though aromatics do fade slowly.
Buying: One bottle lasts years — it is used in dashes and its alcohol content makes it effectively shelf-stable. If you buy one bottle of bitters, make it this one.
Storage: keeps indefinitely, store upright away from light
In depth
Understanding angostura bitters
How it is made, where it comes from, what it pairs with, and how it behaves in an alcohol-free drink.
How it's made
A concentrated alcoholic infusion of botanicals — the recipe is famously undisclosed — bottled at around 45% ABV and used in dashes rather than measures. The oversized paper label is a printing error from the nineteenth century that was never corrected.
Origin
Originally developed in Angostura, Venezuela, in 1824; production later moved to Trinidad.
What it pairs with
A dash sharpens almost any sweet drink and is the cheapest correction available for something that tastes flat. Especially good with whisky, rum and anything built on sugar.
In alcohol-free drinks
- Bitters are alcoholic, and CocktailHQ always marks them optional in alcohol-free recipes rather than assuming the trace amount doesn't matter
- Where they need replacing, strong tea, grapefruit or an alcohol-free aperitif supply bitterness from a different direction
Recipes
Cocktails containing this ingredient
Coffee Old Fashioned
A classic Old Fashioned given a cold-brew twist — bourbon, coffee and bitters, stirred slow.
Three Dots and a Dash
Dark and gold rum shaken with citrus, falernum and allspice dram — a spiced tiki classic named for its Morse-code cherry garnish.
Oaxaca Old Fashioned
Tequila and mezcal with agave and bitters, stirred over ice — an Old Fashioned built on agave rather than grain.
Garnish
Cocktails garnished with angostura bitters
These recipes don't mix it in — they finish with it, which is usually where its aroma does the most work.
Stand-in
Where angostura bitters is a recommended substitute
Recipes that name it as a swap for something else, with what it replaces.
- Sazeracin place of peychaud's bitters
- Vieux Carréin place of peychaud's bitters
- Bamboo Cocktailin place of orange bitters
Explore