Citrus & Fruit Bitters

How is Citrus & Fruit Bitters made?

Citrus and fruit bitters start with a neutral grain spirit base that's infused with fresh citrus peels, dried fruits, and aromatic botanicals through maceration - a process where ingredients soak for days or weeks to extract their essential oils and flavors. After the initial infusion, distillers often add bittering agents like gentian root or cinchona bark, then age the mixture in tanks or barrels to marry all the components. The final product gets diluted to the proper proof and filtered for clarity before bottling, creating those concentrated drops that can transform any cocktail with just a few dashes.

How do you drink Citrus & Fruit Bitters?

Citrus & Fruit Bitters are exclusively used as cocktail ingredients rather than sipped neat or on the rocks - they're far too intense and concentrated for that kind of drinking. These aromatic enhancers shine brightest in whiskey cocktails like Old Fashioneds and Manhattans, rum-based drinks, and gin cocktails where their bright, zesty notes complement the base spirits beautifully. The versatile nature of citrus and fruit bitters makes them perfect year-round additions, though they particularly excel in summer cocktails when their fresh, vibrant character matches the season's energy.

How do I choose a good Citrus & Fruit Bitters?

Start by matching the bitters' intensity to your cocktail's base spirit—delicate citrus bitters work beautifully with gin and vodka drinks, while bold orange or grapefruit bitters can stand up to whiskey and rum. Consider the specific fruit profile you want: bright lemon bitters add snap to martinis, while cherry bitters bring warmth to Manhattans, and orange bitters provide that classic Old Fashioned backbone. Test different brands since each producer has their own house style—some lean sweet and jammy, others pack more bitter punch—and remember that a little goes a long way, so invest in quality over quantity.

Nutritional Information

Typical Calorie Range per Ounce: 8-15 calories

Typical Carbohydrate Range per Ounce: 1-3 grams

Typical Sugar Range per Ounce: 0.5-2 grams

Typically Gluten Free: Yes

Most citrus and fruit bitters are naturally gluten-free since they're made from botanical extracts, citrus peels, and fruit essences rather than grain-based ingredients. The low calorie and carbohydrate content comes from the small amounts of fruit sugars and any added sweeteners used during production. Keep in mind that you'll typically use just a few dashes (about 1/8 teaspoon) in cocktails, making the actual nutritional impact minimal.

Always check the specific product label and manufacturer information to confirm gluten-free status, especially if you have celiac disease or severe gluten sensitivity. Some bitters may be processed in facilities that handle gluten-containing ingredients.

Scrolled this far? Your reward? Citrus & Fruit Bitters Trivia!

1. The original Angostura Orange Bitters disappeared for nearly 40 years after production stopped in the 1970s, leading bartenders to jealously guard their remaining bottles like liquid gold. When the House of Angostura finally brought it back in 2007, some collectors had been paying over $200 for a single bottle on the secondary market. The recipe had to be painstakingly reconstructed from old production notes and the memories of former distillery workers.
2. Peychaud's Bitters, famous for its cherry-red color and role in the Sazerac cocktail, actually gets its distinctive hue from cochineal – the same red dye extracted from crushed female cochineal insects that's used in everything from lipstick to strawberry yogurt. Antoine Peychaud's original 1830s formula in New Orleans called for this natural coloring agent, making every Sazerac technically contain a tiny bit of bug-derived pigment.
3. Fee Brothers' Orange Bitters contains actual orange peels from Rochester, New York's harsh winters, which the company claims produces more concentrated oils than warmer climate citrus. The bitter cold causes the orange trees to concentrate their essential oils as a survival mechanism, creating a more potent flavoring agent. This is why some bartenders swear Fee Brothers has a sharper, more complex orange profile than tropical alternatives.
4. Regans' Orange Bitters No. 6 exists because cocktail writer Gary Regan literally couldn't find good orange bitters anywhere in the 1990s. He spent years experimenting in his kitchen, going through five failed attempts before nailing the sixth formula. The "No. 6" on the label isn't marketing – it's actually the number of his successful recipe batch. He initially made it just for his own home bar before friends convinced him to commercialize it.
5. The Bitter Truth's extensive line of fruit bitters comes from a German distillery that reverse-engineered historical recipes by analyzing the sediment and residue found in antique bitters bottles at auction houses and estate sales. Using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry, they identified the original botanical components and recreated long-lost flavors like Jerry Thomas' Orange Bitters, which hadn't been made since the 1920s Prohibition era.