Andrey Kalinksy of Highlands (250 West. 10th St.) created The Mad Hatter for the recent  Chick Corea Festival at
Jazz at Lincoln Center. So dubbed after a 1978 progressive composition and album of the same name from the great jazz pianist and keyboardist (listen to the entire album on YouTube here) the cocktail was a suitably complex marriage of Hogshead Blended Malt, Giori Amaretto, and our Black Mission Fig Bitters–all built on a foundation of White Knights Vodka from Belgium. (We kept joking with guests who sampled the drink that Belgium vodka was the hot thing right now. The stuff is actually quite flinty and mineral-y and tasty.) Building an amaretto & whisky drink on top of vodka can trick the recipient into thinking they are drinking something light and carefree when in fact it’s a serious muscle drink (he said speaking from personal experience).  You get the smoke of the whisky and the nutty richness of the amaretto and the figgy savoriness of the bitters,  but the overall effect is far lighter with this dilution by vodka–in taste, but not proof. Without that rich whisky stirred cocktail pushback you can throw a couple of these high-octane numbers down and find yourself falling down your own personal rabbit hole, complete with Mad Hatters and rabbits. Try one for yourself during June when they will be serving it at Highlands.  J. Rowan

Kalinsky prepping Mad Hatters at Jazz at Lincoln Centers’ at Columbus Circle

Photo Credit: Zagat, Hernan F. Rodriguez

Well, we’re definitely in NYC. Definitely part of a larger bitters trend. Kooky? I wouldn’t have thought so, certainly not as kooky as Bitter Tears’ “Lucille” Blood Orange and Ginger Bitters, or Miracle Mile Gingerbread Bitters, but we’ll take it. In James Mulcahy’s piece for Zagat about 8 trends in NYC cocktails we land at the very end under the section of “Kooky Bitters”, a nice mention to be sure. (Perhaps the Sriracha Bitters are kooky, at least to non-Sriracha lovers.) We’re also seemingly mentioned in the description of  Costata’s “Local Martini” which uses ramps, rhubarbs and meyer lemon bitters. We’re not mentioned by brand name but we’re pretty sure it’s us–if there’s another meyer lemon bitters out there we haven’t heard of them. Check out Mulcahy’s article here. J.R.

As we inexorably expand our web of retailers out across the country (and the world) like some kind of bitters Borg, we keep encountering innovative and very personal shops and the cool teams behind them. South Philly’s Green Aisle Grocery  (1618 East Passyunk Avenue, 225-465-1411) is run by a pair of brothers who must really, really get along, Adam and Andrew Erace. The shop celebrates and promotes farms and artisanal products from the Delaware Valley, but they also have an impressive collection of spices and foodstuffs from around the world, and an overarching passion for consciously made food.  And now they have some bitters from Brooklyn to add to their cocktailing arsenal.

And they’ve got their own jams (so to speak).

Photos: Michael Persico

Stopped into Extra Fancy in Williamsburg the other night to try some spring scotch cocktails–a capital notion. E.F.’s Monday crewTom “Tojo” Johnson and  Eric Job were serving up some frisky numbers using whiskies from the Edrington portfolio (cocktail list below). We were pleased to see our Rhubarb Bitters put to good use in the “Sam ‘n’ Pat”, a sort-of depth charge served in a flute:  Famous Grouse, Reissdorf Kolsch, lemon, honey and rhubarb bittters. The name came when Rob Krueger asked what had beer, honey and rhubarb in it and Eric answered, “My Grandma.” She had  made strawberry and rhubarb pies for him from the gardens at her homes in Maine and Conneticut–prime rhubarb country, and that particular combo from that particular grandmother was apparently pretty fantastic. “What about the scotch?” Rob asked. Eric paused and said that no, his grandmother didn’t drink scotch but that her husband Sam sure did. And thus the name. The drink has a refreshing, salty, mineral-y bit that is set off nicely by the rhubarb. It was served in a flute but I could see doing it in a pint glass. And doing it repeatedly on a lawn somewhere on a warm spring evening. More-than honorary mention to the tropically scotchy “Fly Hawaiian”. Both recipes below.

SAM N’ PAT

We’ve working with a couple sweet new retailers around the country–in the case of Hey Rooster General Store in Nashville, very very new. The artisanal, crafty handmade good store with one of the better names in recent memory just opened in the last week of April, and we’re pleased to be included on their shelves. It’s also the only place our bitters can be found in the entire region, so if you’re in the area put some George Jones on the car stereo and head on over to 1106 Gallatin Avenue, and tell ‘em Brooklyn Bitters sent you.

Back out West we can be found at Pearl Specialty Market & Spirits in Portland which is a real pleasure for a couple reasons. First, their selection of bitters is on par with any of the great bitters resources in the country like Whisk and The Meadow, so we’re in some excellent company. Then there’s the fact that Sean Hoard, a great friend of BHB, mans the helm right around the corner at Teardrop Lounge. Our Lemon Bitters actually feature one of Sean’s recipes, Pistol Dreams, on the back labels.  Finally, as someone who grew up in Portland in the 80s and who spent a lot of afternoons and nights in high school walking around what was a deserted industrial neighborhood, having our stuff featured in a great shop in what is the now-swinging Pearl District has an slightly surreal kick. Plus: it means more place to by our bitters in Portland! I’ll take good-natured issue with Robert Simonson asserting in the NYT asserting that “any boozehound worth his salt-rimmed glass will tell you, the City by the Bay is New York’s only real rival for American cocktail supremacy.” This boozehound says Portland easily rivals San Francisco. J. Rowan

Back in October I was involved in rounding up bartenders for Martha Stewart’s “American Made” awards event that was held in a made-over Vanderbilt Hall at Grand Central Station. Still not quite sure how this happened, but I was the point man between the production team and some seriously blue chip bartenders from around NYC, including Richard Boccato of Dutch Kills , Rustin Nichols of Wythe Hotel, and Rob Kreuger of Extra Fancy (who made his Fancy 75 which I’d written about for Men’s Journal.) The emphasis was on American spirits and ingredients which I started to realize was more about being local than being patriotic, and a rather cool angle for the Martha empire to take on.

BHB’s main man Alejandro helping get our Black Mission Fig (and Bulleit) Sours set up. The intensity in that room as hundreds of catering staff, publicists, food purveyors and bartenders raced to be ready for the starting pistol was unlike any event I’d ever worked.

In the weeks leading up to the event I kept throwing out the suggestion that we do a small little bitters tasting table–if this was all celebrating American artisanal food and spirit makers then the new wave of American bitters makers certainly deserved a little featuring, right? Of course I’m biased. The idea bounced around and never quite caught hold but I couldn’t let it go, and when there wasn’t a firm answer either way the by day of the event, and in the midst of the serious hyper-activity I kinda decided to beg forgiveness later and made a little extra space on our bar station (space was a huge premium) and invited Eduardo Simeon of Hella Bitters (and MS Living, as it happens) to come and man this ad hoc bitters booth and talk to guests about the category. I’d rounded up some offerings from some of my personal favorite bitters outfits, including Hella, Bitter End, Dram and of course the godparents of the American Bitters Renaissance, Bittermens.

Slightly Guerilla Bitters Summit: Jomaree Pinkard and Eduardo Simeon of  of Hella Bitters flank our own Mark Buettler

For the event I constructed the kind of absurdly complicated version of a very simple drink that you only do for big splashy events–a Bulleit bourbon sour set off by our Black Mission Fig Bitters, with the sweet coming from a combination of candied sour cherry syrup, maple syrup and demerara syrup. Pretty damn tasty, if I do say so myself. And those Fig Bitters just love bourbon.

Spooky ice effect courtesy of Dutch Kill’s dry ice.

Our pals at Brooklyn Gin’s fine liquid was featured in Dutch Kills’ “Army & Navy” offering.

Emil Jattne and Joe Santos of Brooklyn Gin chat with the crew from Dutch Kill.

It was a great night for New York cocktails, and a really, really great night for bitters. Hopefully we’ll be invited back to next year’s awards despite our slightly outlaw bitters booth.

J.Rowan

Why the Jessica Lange Bruce Weber photo? That’s pretty much how we felt when we got a couple great mentions this week, in both The SF Bay Guardian  &  The NYT Magazine. (The Times Magazine had Jessica Lange on the same page, which sparked the image search.) The lovely Virginia Miller  had some very nice things to say about us in this article for the SFBG, calling our line “some of the more inventive, elegant bitters on the market.”   And on the new-ish One-Page front section of The NYT Magazine Mario Batali recommends using our Meyer Lemon Bitters in a gimlet–his recipe: 3 oz. Plymouth Gin (bold pour, Batali!), juice and pith of one lime, 2 drops of Brooklyn Hemispherical Meyer Lemon Bitters, shake and strain.

Below, Virginia Miller with Master Distiller Desmond Payne at the Beefeater Distillery in London. Payne was the Master Distiller for Plymouth Gin some years back–the very Plymouth that Batali recommends using in the BHB Meyer Lemon-kissed gimlet above. Sometimes everything seems connected. J.R.

Our Black Mission Fig Bitters have had a big month or so, getting mentioned in the New York Times (a coup), and by the lovely ladies of Gastronomista, and by the fit lads of Men’s Health, and in one very fig lovin’ gift guide from The Fig And The Pig, Alia Akam featured them in her boozy gift guide for Paper Mag, dropping  perhaps my favorite metaphor for bitters’ purpose I’ve heard yet: “Bitters heighten classic cocktails with lingering depth in much the same way belts cinch teeny waists and accentuate sweater dresses.”  The BMFs take the longest to “steep”, as there’s something stubborn about how slowly the fruit releases it’s fatty, savory/sweet oils, and it’s been a challenge to get them to our retailers around the country (and in Australia) in time for the holidays–and they are so very good in holiday drinks.  (Try an Old Fashioned with a few drops on top.) But as of this moment we have Black Mission Fig Bitters (and many of our other bitters) on shelves in the following shops:

The Meadow New York (523 Hudson Street, 10014)

The Meadow Portland (3731 N. Mississippi Avenue, Portland, OR,  97227) MAIL ORDER AVAILABLE HERE

Whisk Bedford (231 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn, 11211) MAIL ORDER AVAILABLE HERE.

Whisk Broadway (933 Broadway, at 22nd Street)

Stinky Brooklyn (215 Smith Street, Brooklyn, 112010)

Vine & Co., Westchester (741 Bedford Road, Bedford Hills, NY, 10507)

The Oaks Gourmet Market, Los Angeles (1915 N. Bronson)

And now in Texas, through Twin Liquors:

Twin Liquors Marketplace at Hancock Center (1000 E 41^st St, Ste 200, Austin, TX 78751)

Twin Liquors Marketplace at the Galleria (3925 Market St., Bee Caves, TX 78738)

Twin Liquors Marketplace San Antonio (12955 San Pedro, Ste 500, San Antonio, TX 78216)

And in Australia available through mail order at Only Bitters.

 J..R.

Woke up early Sunday morning, opened the New York Times Magazine and read Rosie Schaap’s marvelously evocative essay on cool fall nights and how they make her crave apple cider drinks, a great piece of writing that manages to fold in the proto alt-folk music of Sandy Denny and Fairport Convention, Frost & Yeats.  Shaap also recommends using our Black Mission Fig Bitters in her accompanying recipe  ”Autumn Bonfire”, a warming mix of scotch whisky, apple cider, applejack and maple syrup and Fig Bitters although “Angostura works, too”, a slight left-handed compliment to the undisputed king of all bitters. The piece is valuable not just for its savvy on ciders (cloudy are better for Schaap) but for the charming way she weaves personal experiences and memories of old records and musings on how a season sounds, smells and tastes,  and connecting it to cocktails.J.R.

I’ve known Simon Lange, chef at Apartment 138 (138 Smith Street in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn), since he played high school soccer with my kid brother in Key West. When I first was getting interested in bitters a couple years ago, we took a road trip to Maine for another kid brother’s wedding. In our friends Mark & Nan’s rental mini-van we caravaned from Manhattan to Northern Maine. I was packing a small kit of bitters-Angostura, Fee Brother’s Rhubarb and the very rare, not-even-supposed-to-exist Beefeater 24 Bitters. (Note to fellow bitters makers (and self): more gin-based bitters.). A half gallon of Sprite was transformed into Spitters with the addition of some Angostura, and we were sure we were onto something. At a Friendly’s in Northern Connecticut we all really went for it on the milkshake front, and Simon and I added bitters to ours. I think we wound up with a blend of Ango and Fee’s Rhubarb, and it was pretty damn exciting.

Flash forward 4 years, and Simon’s put together a rather more complex version of that bitters shake. Simon was further experimenting with ice cream and bitters while cheffing at Apartment 138  while Mark & I were first developing our bitters, and I’d pass on some tests for shake experiments. But it was when I got my first good whiff of the Black Mission Figs that had been soaking in a bitters base for 10 days that I thought to use the actual botanical-in this case the figs-with ice cream. I packed a mason jar with a few super-saturated figs in a mason jar and took them to Simon. A few weeks later I stopped by and he’d come up with the fig shake and put it on the menu. He’d mixed some honey chestnut Il Laboratorio di Gelato, about 3 oz Old Forrester’s Rye and one hyper-bittered fig in a blender. A graham cracker from One Girl Cookies rests as a garnish on the lip of a pint glass.  Best shared, probably, as two sips in you immediately start to enter a luxurious fat, sugar, fig, bitters & Rye comaphoria. ”And it all started on that trip,” Simon reflected when I stopped by to shoot some photos of the beast.