bitters

Spent some time this week blending bitters, according to my own tastes/recipes; basically developing and testing recipes.

Before I started, I decided to taste all the bitters I have on hand, to get an idea of flavor profiles.

I tried to evaluate them like wine: the nose, the color, the mouthfeel, taste, and finish. Here are my results

I tasted the following bitters:

1. Fee Brothers Orange Bitters
2. Fee Brothers Peach Bitters
3. Fee Brothers Old Fashioned Bitters
4. Regan's No 6. Orange Bitters
5. Peychaud's Bitters
6. Angostura Bitters

Fee Brothers Orange:

• Contains some alcohol
• Light in color
  
• Orange in nose
• Orange and sweetness on tongue; some viscosity from glycerin
  
• Slight gentian/orris bitterness on finish

Fee Brother Peach Bitters

• Contains no alcohol
• Light/pale in color
  
• Tiny peach on nose
• Very sweet and almond + light peach on tongue; some viscosity from glycerin
• Almond in finish

Fee Old Fashioned

• No alcohol
• Very dark looking, like cola
• Lots of cinnamon + clove on nose
• Very spicy cinnamon + clove on tongue instantly, followed by gentian bitterness on finish, pretty gentle; citrus + zest overtones; some viscosity from glycerin
• Longer, lingering finish
  

Regan's No 6 Bitters

• 45% alcohol
• Very clear, tan tint
  
• Strong alcohol and some bitter orange on nose
• No sweetness on tongue; very thin and extremely bitter
  
• Gentian and citrus zest on finish, along with floral and spicy rosemary notes
  

Peychaud's Bitters

• 35% alcohol
• Very red in color, like maraschino cherry
• Slight anise on nose
• No sweetness on tongue; light anise + herby flavor
• Minimal bitterness on finish, short finish
  

Angostura Bitters

• 45% alcohol
• Dark red color, with tinge of brown
• Strong molasses on nose, + light cinammon and "jagermeister" spices (clove, anise)
  
• Almost no sweetness
• Immediate gentian on tongue, with a bit of clove