A Jigger of Blog

Via DJ Hawaiianshirt, I’m reminded of an old thread at Kaiser Penguin about who has the most bitters in their home bar. Inspired by it, I did a quick inventory this morning of my current stock of bitters:

1. Peychaud’s
2. Angostura
3. Angostura Orange
4. Bitter Truth Jerry Thomas Decanter
5. Bitter Truth Repeal Bitters
6. Bitter Truth Orange Bitters
7. Bitter Truth Orange Flower Water*
8. Urban Moonshine Original
9. Urban Moonshine Maple
10. Urban Moonshine Citrus
11. Bittermens Xocolatl Mole
12. Bittermens Burlesque
13. Adam Elmegirab’s Boker’s Bitters
14. Fee’s Aztec Chocolate
15. Fee’s Whiskey Barrel Aged
16. Fee’s Grapefruit
17. Fee’s Cherry
18. Fee’s Orange
19. Chartreuse Elixir Vegetal**
20. Trader Tiki’s Barrel Aged Falernum Bitters
21. Marshall’s Mountain Moonshine Bitters
22. DJ’s Floral Tinc Bitters
23. Homemade Cola Bitters
24. Homemade Cherry-Vanilla Bitters

Now a tough question is which can I not live without. At the end of the day, if forced, I could probably get by with just Angostura, Peychaud’s and Regan’s Orange bitters. I’d collected a lot of bitters out of a desire to have new and interesting things. But as I’ve gotten to the place where I do far, far less original cocktail creation in my home bar, I use the random bitters with less frequency. The basics — aromatic, orange and Peychaud’s — are far and away the flavors I used the most. Sure, I’d miss some of the more interesting ones and some of the citrus variations, but I’d probably be able to do most of what I usually do in my home bar.

* I’m including The Bitter Truth Orange Flower Water because, well, they’re a flavoring agent used in a similar way, just not bitter. And they come in the same bottles as other Bitter Truth bitters.

** Chartreuse Elixir Vegetal is another one that is used just like bitters, though I don’t know if many people consider it as such. Asterisks protect me from being wrong…