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Bitters are essential for any true classic cocktail. Before the term cocktail became a generic term for a mixed alcoholic drink, bitters were part of the definition of cocktail: a spirit, sugar, water, and bitters. If you want to make an Old Fashioned and you don’t have any bitters on hand, you can’t make an Old Fashioned (at least not a good one). So, is there a bitters substitute?
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Well, if you are looking for a common household substitute for the bitterness of typical cocktail bitters, you aren’t going to find it! As bitterness goes, cocktail bitters are as bitter as you are going to get.
The classics, like Angostura and Peychaud’s use gentian, a very bitter root. And orange bitters, like Reagan’s Orange Bitters No. 6, use orange peels. They are made with a strong neutral alcoholic spirit and are very concentrated. Of course, they contain other herbs and spices to lend flavor and aromatics.
- IDEAL, TRADITIONAL FLAVOR | Woodsy profile with subtle hints of licorice, saffron, peel, and caramel. Perfect combination to enhance your favorite mixed drink
- STAPLE FOR DRINKS | Peychauds is the original bitter for legendary classics like Manhattans, Old Fashioneds and Whiskey Sours. Dont ruin your favorites with other bitters
- MADE IN NEW ORLEANS | With uniquely sourced ingredients, Peychauds bitters provide a flavor profile meant to compliment and not overbear your drinks
- SINCE 1800s | From prior to prohibition, Peychauds was the bitter of choice. Surviving through tough times, Peychauds stood the test of time and has since maintained to be an all time favorite
- ORIGINAL FORMULA | If its the best, then theres no reason to change. Peychauds perfected the recipe and has never looked back. Through the millions of drinks it has been served in, youll know why we have changed one bit
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The only way to mimic this at home is to make your own homemade bitters. This is something that many people are doing today, as the cocktail or “mixology” revolution is still well underway. There are scores of “artisan” bitters showing up on liquor store shelves and many bartenders are making their own.
However, a homemade version of bitters is still bitters, not a “substitute for bitters,” and you’d need to purchase the bitter ingredient and other herbs and spices, plus the alcohol, to make your own. If all you wanted was a quick substitute, it would be quicker to run to the liquor store or even the grocery store!
And a lot quicker, at that — it will take you about a month of mostly hands-free waiting to make homemade bitters.
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Although you won’t get near the bitter flavor of concentrated alcohol bitters, you can use citrus peel, such as lemon or orange, to impart bitter notes to any cocktail, especially those that call for citrus bitters, orange bitters, or lemon bitters.
Keep in mind that you will need to use the peels only, without any of the flesh, unless you also want the sweet or sour flavor of the fruit to come through.
Bitters Substitute for Old Fashioned or Other Cocktails
The only real substitute for bitters is another kind of bitters!
However, don’t go thinking that bitters are interchangeable. If a cocktail is traditionally made with a certain kind of bitters, and you want it to taste the way you expect it to, you should stick with that particular bitters.
The other ingredients, besides the bitter ingredient, matter as, and each one will have its own floral, herbal, or spicy undertones. An orange bitters bears no resemblance to a gentian-based bitters.
Although many bartenders may have their own preference, the classic Old Fashioned cocktail tends to be made with Angostura. However, as an Angostura substitute, Peychaud’s is often used, even though they really don’t taste the same.
Peychaud’s has a strong anise flavor and a menthol kick not present in Angostura. Of course, if you make your own drinks, the taste is up to you, and you can use any bitters you would like.
I’ve already written a great deal about Angostura, including whether it actually ever contained any angostura. Angostura aromatic bitters are by far the most famous bitters in the world, and it is one of the few that was around prior to prohibition and managed to survive until after it ended. Other classic cocktails using angostura include the Manhattan.
Peychaud’s is another of the few classic bitters to have survived prohibition, created in 1830. They are used in the famous New Orleans drink the Sazerac. Both were invented by the same person, a Haitian refugee and pharmacist named Antoine Amedee.
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Above is the very popular Woodford Reserve Spiced Cherry Bourbon Barrel Aged Cocktail Bitters.
Can You Purchase Alcoholic Bitters Online?
Many people wonder, since bitters often contain alcohol, which is used to extract the bitter and flavoring elements from the various ingredients, can you still order them online?
I recently saw a YouTube video in which a person acted out a ‘gotcha’ scenario where an underage fellow discovered that he could purchase bitters at the liquor store without an ID. After learning that Angostura Bitters contain 44.7% alcohol, he purchased an armload of the bottles so that he could make a drink to get drunk on at home. How silly the law is!
Nobody who had ever tried bitters would think you could use them alone to become intoxicated. Since they contain so much bitterness, they are not considered alcoholic beverages but rather “alcoholic non-beverage products.” They are not consumed like a beverage, and since they are so very bitter, there is not much danger that anyone would try to consume them this way.
Not only can you order any bitters products online, but Angostura and others popular bitters are often carried in grocery stores.