Bitter – an indispensable additive in every Cocktail

What is Bitter?

Bitter is basically a wine infused with herbs, roots, cinnamon, star anise, fruit peels plus caramel and more. True to its name, Bitter, its taste is quite bitter and has a dark color.

Usually, Bitter is used as an ingredient for cocktails apéritif (appetizer) or digesif (after meals). The main reason is because when we eat or drink bitter things, a lot of saliva is secreted to help digestion happen quickly.

History of Bitter's Birth

Like many other types of alcohol, history records that people used bitter to treat diseases, and people also believed that it had the effect of curing all diseases, but no one knows where and when Bitter originated. Some people say Bitter was created by... accident, that some bitter foods accidentally fell into a barrel of wine and they didn't take them out.

Gradually, that bitter taste seeps into the wine and creates such a dark color. However, no one can confirm whether this is true or not, people just pass along stories about Bitter like that, and there are many. The hypothesis has been researched, but the authenticity of Bitter's birth has not yet been determined.

Uses Of Bitter

Talking about how to use Bitter in Cocktails, there are glasses like Manhattan or Sazerac, which are both Cocktail glasses with Bitter as the ingredient. After World War I, people seemed to forget what Bitter was. It wasn't until 1933, when the US government lifted the ban on alcohol, that Bartenders began to search for that golden ingredient to bring to the world. A brilliant new age of Cocktails.

Bitter can even be used in cooking. If it is said that when cooking, salt and pepper are indispensable, then Bitter is the "salt and pepper" of the Cocktail world. Of course, not every Cocktail needs Bitter, but without it, delicious glasses of wine would probably not be possible.