Chocolate Bitters

Bitters...a little bit of them can go a long way in a cocktail. Angostura bitters, the first ones that were made, were actually invented for stomach issues in hopes to aid digestion. Made from spices and herbs, they do have a sour or bitter taste on their own, but they add something completely different . Today, you can find all types of flavors of bitters: lemon, orange, peach, mint, cherry and celery.

I stumbled across one flavor that I wanted to try: chocolate bitters. It's a blend of cocoa, peppers and spices; a sniff of it presented more of a cinnamon type smell. Unlike other bitters, there is no alcohol in these ones so it didn't have as strong of a smell. It tasted a bit more like spicy cinnamon, but there was a hint of chocolate in the aftertaste. It's advised to use these bitters in dark spirits, like rum, whiskey or tequila. I decided to try out a tequila cocktail first...

2 parts tequila
1 part Licor 43 (sidenote: more to come about this)
1 part Cointreau
Few dashes chocolate bitters

I mixed this and the Cointreau overpowered the drink; so then I played around with the other ingredients, trying to balance it out, but didn't have any luck. I had to sacrifice this effort to the sink. I have trouble with tequila cocktails that aren't margaritas.

So I gave the bitters a second effort, this time trying a traditional cocktail to see how the chocolate bitters could impact it. I made a Manhattan:

2 parts Jim Beam
3/4 sweet vermouth
Couple dashes angostura bitters
Couple dashes chocolate bitters
Cherry

At first sip, it tasted like...a Manhattan. I added some more of the chocolate bitters, sipped, more of the bitters, sipped again and struggled to find that extra chocolate kick. Like before, I did get a little bit of a chocolate aftertaste but it was very subtle.

I'll have to try some other recipes with these chocolate bitters until I find one that makes them shine. Anyone have any ideas? Let me know.