At any good bar, along with the array of homemade syrups, small, dark bottles that look as if they belong in a medicine cabinet will be on display. These are bitters, a blend of herbs, spices, roots, barks, and flowers that are often a cocktail’s finishing touch. A pre-Prohibition staple dispensed for their purported curative properties, bitters create much-sought-after balance and complexity. Here are a few locally made renditions:
Dutch’s Spirits
An ode to 19th-century gold-laden mining towns, whiskey-friendly Boomtown Bitters, from Pine Plains distillery Dutch’s Spirits, brings together the toasty flavors of sarsaparilla, wintergreen, coconut, and oak. www.dutchsspirits.com
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Tuthilltown Spirits
Unaged rye, sarsaparilla, and local maple syrup meld with nearly 15 additional herbs and spices, then age in rye-cured barrels to create Bitter Frost, the first release from Tuthilltown Spirits’ Basement Bitters line. www.tuthilltown.com
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The Hudson Standard
The Hudson Standard, makers of tart, Colonial American-inspired shrubs, also turn out bitters — ginger, Bloody-Mary-perfect celery, and earthy spruce shoot — boasting local ingredients. www.thehudsonstandard.com
