Bartenders are obsessing about using bitters. Jaq Bayles of Drinks International Magazine went on a journey to discover the secrets behind the recent bitters boom.

“Gary Regan and The Bitter Truth company are largely credited with having kickstarted the interest in the sector, and many others have followed suit.”

And as Alex Turner points out: ” “Bartenders really want them. Bearing in mind you are only putting in a dash or two, they do change the flavour and colour of a drink. There are a lot more bitters around and bartenders are looking back at the way drinks were made 100 years ago and recreating those drinks with modern ingredients.”

You can find the full issue here-

Just before the holidays, Saveur Magazine published their february issue which holds Saveurs annual Top 100 list of great finds from the world of food. This years list focuses on chefs.

“The result is the most passionate and authoritative Saveur 100 yet, a grab bag of chef-recommended tools, tricks of the trade, must-visit restaurants, beloved books, amazing drinks, guilty-pleasure foods, and much more. It’s a peek inside the kitchens, hearts, and minds of some of the world’s most talented cooks.”

Ken Oringer of CLIO in Boston had nice words to say about The Bitter Truth Celery Bitters: “It makes drinks sing with complex, vegetal depth; in food, too, it brings out the best in other ingredients. When making rhubarb chutney, I poach the rhubarb in honey and add ginger, lime zest, and a few drops of celery bitters. The bitters make you say, “What’s that last element I can’t quite place?”

Well, could 2011 have started any better?

Forget all of those same old after dinner drinks, try something unforgettable this Christmas, The Bitter Truth ELIXIER is a digestif unrivalled, based on recipes from yesteryear but with a definite taste of now.

Since the middle ages herbal liqueurs have been associated with aiding digestion after a large meal. The church was the main source of potions, with some French and Italian herbal liqueurs from this era still around today. It was thought that alcohol was a good carrier for the medicinal benefits of herbs and spices and that drinking a digestive liqueur helped to settle the stomach and even refresh the breath after a meal. Out of this practice several modern forms of alcohol consumption as we know them have evolved, and in the Alpine regions of Europe the digestive bitters were born.  They are usually dark in colour, as their taste comes from herbs and spices being marinated into grain based alcohols.

ELIXIER merges the best from the past and the present to create a new and distinctive digestive liqueur. The roots of the success of this liqueur are in the botanicals used to create the flavour and colour, with ingredients such as mint, rhubarb, gentian, lemon… Read more

IMPORTANT NOTICE

Due to some excellent coverage in Food & Wine Mag , The New York Times and several other respected publications we get numerous request in relation of availability of our Bitters Travel Pack in the USA.

At the moment we must say we are a victim of our own success and the supply might be very limited for at least the holiday season. Travel Packs arrived stateside and the best bet would be to check out Park Avenue Liquor and Astor Wine & Spirits in New York City and CASK in San Francisco.

The demand exceeded our expectations by far and we have just another shipment on the boat. We hope to get it into the port shortly as well.

After all we appologize to all who might miss out on the first shipment and wish you all the best for the holidays.

Last thursday Slovakias finest of the trade gathered in Bratislava to celebrate the growing Slovakian cocktail community with the celebration of the 4th Slovak Bar Awards. We are pleased to announce that our little red colored liquid CREOLE BITTERS won the award for DISCOVERY OF THE YEAR. Even if the ceremony was the first we attended were we didn`t understood a single word, we were thrilled when the name of the winning product appeared on the screen.

Slovakia has a massivly growing cocktail scene and their key figures such as Erik Lorincz (head bartender at the newly reopened Savoy Hotel London), Marian Beke (formerly Langham Hotel and Montgomery Place London), Stanislav Vadrna (formerly Paparazzi Bar Bratislava and global ambassador of japanese bartending) or Lubos Rasz (Paparazzi Bar Bratislava) play an important role in the international cocktail culture.

We re very happy to recieve this new award which is the perfect addition to our list of awards recieved during 2010.

Next week we will make a stop in Bratislava to attend this years SLOVAK BAR AWARDS.

As we just learn The Bitter Truth Creole Bitters is nominated as DISCOVERY OF THE YEAR.

The Slovak Bar Awards are the top event of the year for the slovakian bar scene, which had an international impact on the global cocktail scene with personalities such as Stanislav Vadrna, Erik Lorincz and Lubos Racz among others.

Slovak Bar Awards will be held nov 25th, 7pm, Club LOFT, Bratislava