Our last round of bittering was a complete success (if I do say so myself). But, not satisfied with mere success, R and I asked ourselves: is there some way we could make them even better? And then the answer came to us – bespoke bitters! Custom mixtures that are particularly suited to a type of cocktail. The idea was borrowed (i.e., shamelessly lifted) from my favorite cocktail bar, Amor y Amargo, which makes an amazing Sazerac using a house blend of eight amari.

One challenge: I usually prefer variety when it comes to drinks, so customizing bitters for a specific cocktail sounds counterproductive. However, there are a few classics that I always return to – the Margarita, the Negroni (in its infinite variations), and the Old Fashioned. This last one seemed the obvious choice. It’s the ultimate minimalist cocktail, and the bitters are such a crucial flavoring component. Already, R had been perfecting his Old Fashioneds by adding multiple bitters, so pre-mixing them seemed the obvious next step.

As usual, we took the scientific approach, carefully measuring out the whiskey and simple syrup, counting the number of drops of each bitters we added, tasting and adjusting the proportions until we were satisfied with the results. We settled on a combination composed predominantly of the fig and pecan bitters, with a lesser amount of the orange and a tiny bit of the aromatic (16:16:4:1 were the exact ratios).

We mixed up a batch of the blended bitters and performed our final test, preparing identical Old Fashioneds using three different rye whiskeys: High West Double Rye, Copper Cross Hybrid Whiskey, and Whistle Pig Old World. Guest taster for the evening was JS, whose Southern roots are reflected in his appreciation of good whiskey. The ryes varied in the levels of heat, spice, sweetness, and oak, but the bitters worked well in every case, highlighting different flavor notes – citrus, cinnamon, black pepper, dried fruit – depending on the booze. I have since made Old Fashioneds with bourbon, which has more corn sweetness, and the results were just as tasty.

Mmm, I’m getting thirsty just thinking about it. Time to put those bespoke bitters to work!

h.