Take Your Medicine

1150

Angostura Bitters—a combination of tropical herbs, plant extracts, and spices named after the port town of Angostura, Venezuela—were developed by a doctor in 1824 to be a tonic and a natural healing elixir (that was quickly adopted by sea-sick sailors).

Bitters will enhance the flavor of other ingredients without masking them and will temper the acidity of citrus ingredients in cock- tails. It’s no surprise, then, that bitters, which are part of many classic cocktails such as the Old Fashioned and the Rob Roy, have medicinal uses.

Indigestion, overindulgence (you arrived with a hangover), or a sour stomach are all candidates for bitters and soda. Pour club soda into a rocks glass, add five dashes of bitters and fill it with more soda. It’s like bartender Alka-Seltzer. For hiccups, take a lime wedge in a shot glass and add four or five dashes of bitters. Put the lime wedge in your mouth and bite. I’ve done this for many years and it always works.

Here’s a helpful tip: If you are outside at a patio bar, put a little bitters in your hands and rub it on your legs—no mosquitos! Be careful, because it will stain your clothes and there’s no getting it out.

Comments

comments

SIMILAR ARTICLES

3664

1062

10000

2582