The Historical Events of Bitters
Bitters begins as one of the earliest forms of medicine. For thousands of years herbs, barks, fruits, spices, and many other natural botanicals have been used to treat all sorts of ailments. Ancient Egyptians infused botanicals in wine specifically for medicinal purposes.
Over time, and with the advancement of distillation, we've come to the bitters we think of today. A much higher proofed, typically neutral spirit, infused with botanicals. These bitters gained popularity in the 1800s, still as medicine, and were prescribed by medical professionals and sold in stores. I tend to imagine it was a primitive form of how our medical system operates today. Certain types of bitters one would need a prescription for, and others could simply be bought over the counter. There were hundreds of types and brands of bitters claiming to treat almost everything. The truth is, there wasn't much else available in the way of medicine back then. It makes sense why they would infuse plant matter into alcohol which absorbs easily into the bloodstream.
It's tough to nail down where the introduction of bitters as a drink additive came from. The earliest known printed definition of a cocktail contains bitters as an ingredient. Printed in 1806, in a New York newspaper, a cocktail is a stimulating liquor comprised of sprits of any kind, sugar, water, and bitters (this was noted as "The Bitter Sling). I was surprised to learn that cocktails originally were meant to be morning drinks, and this is where I'm assuming the cross-pollination of bitters and drink comes from. Bitters was then, as today, used to treat upset stomachs, digestion, and yes, a hangover. I can't come up with a better explanation for drinking in the morning than fighting off the previous night's overindulgence. I wonder which improved which, the bitters making the alcohol taste better or the alcohol helping the medicine go down.
With the passing of the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 all bitters had to remove any claims of curing ailments, lower their proof and label the ingredients. This was due to shady deceptive marketing on behalf of "snake oil" salesmen. Bitters finally bid farewell to being considered medicine, and the only bitters to survive were those the bartending community had already established as drink ingredients.
Prohibition went into effect in 1920 ceasing the production, transportation, and sale of intoxicating liquors. Any beverage containing more than 0.5 percent of alcohol was banned. Bitters was no exception. Most Americans considered violating or ignoring the Prohibition Amendment as acceptable or good-natured, and as history repeatedly reminds us, whenever there is a demand, someone will find a method of supplying that demand. Prohibition gave way to rum-running, speakeasies, and "alky-cookers" all across the nation. Alky-cookers were primitive stills operated in back rooms, apartments, sheds, and basements. Oftentimes these were provided by organized crime members to families in need. The family received some much-needed income and organized crime had its supply. As a result, the quality of alcohol available degraded considerably. Few could tolerate the taste of "bathtub gins" created by these primitive stills. Bartenders added anything they could think of to try and hide the taste of the poorly made alcohol. Bitters was a common additive and served a function of not just making the alcohol taste better but tolerable.
Bitters and classic cocktails fall by the wayside after Prohibition was repealed. This was partially due to the aging required in creating the quality spirits many of the recipes call for. US distilleries were out of production for over a decade, and aged stocks were limited. Blended and neutral spirits started being marketed heavily since they required little time to produce and none to age. Vodka reemerged awakening the taste for light and sweet drinks for the American drinker and the "high ball" established dominance. Unfortunately, this meant that bitters and bar tools were all but forgotten. Thanks to two visionaries at the Rainbow Room in New York during the 1980s, bitters and the classic drinks of old, begin their rebirth. Dale Degroff and Joe Baum implemented a cocktail program utilizing the first known printed bartender's guide: "Jerry Thomas's The Bartenders Guide: How To Mix Drinks written in 1862". The drink menu was a success and other restaurants slowly began to follow.
Today a vast array of bitters and single flavor tinctures are being made and utilized. It's not uncommon to find establishments resembling a chemistry lab filled with an array of dropper and dasher bottles. The culture of the drinks and ingredients of old is being embraced and embellished upon at an inspiring rate, and creativity once again has a place behind the bar.
