Angostura Aromatic Bitters

Angostura Aromatic Bitters is a 100mL bottle of the original aromatic bitters, at 44.7% ABV, made in Trinidad & Tobago to the secret recipe first created in 1824. A few dashes add complexity to a cocktail, intensify the flavour of the other ingredients and soften the harsh edges of spirits and citrus alike — the bottle behind the Old Fashioned, the Manhattan and the Pink Gin, recognised everywhere by its oversized label and yellow cap. It is available to order online at Del Mesa Liquor.

• ABV: 44.7%
• Size: 100mL
• Style: Aromatic cocktail bitters — used in dashes, not measures
• Origin: Made in Trinidad & Tobago by the House of Angostura
• Recipe: Secret since 1824 — a blend of herbs, spices, fruits and roots with gentian as the named label botanical; the brand does not publish the formula
• Signature: Oversized label and yellow cap, a 19th-century mix-up that became the trademark

From Battlefield Medicine to Every Bar on Earth

Dr Johann Gottlieb Benjamin Siegert, a German surgeon in Simon Bolivar's army, created these bitters in the Venezuelan town of Angostura in 1824 as a medicinal preparation; his family later moved production to Port of Spain, Trinidad, where the House of Angostura still makes them. The famous oversized label is, in the house's oft-told story, a mix-up — one brother ordered the bottles, another the labels, and neither matched — kept because it made the bottle unmistakable; treat the anecdote as brand lore rather than documented fact. Two centuries on, a cocktail cabinet without it is like a kitchen without salt and pepper. Stock the bar shelf from the Angostura vendor page and our spirits collection.

Tasting Notes

Intensely aromatic and bitter: gentian-led herbal bitterness with warm spice and dried-fruit depth, designed to register in drops — a dash seasons a whole drink rather than flavouring it outright.

How to Enjoy

Two or three dashes in an Old Fashioned or Manhattan; a dash in soda water as a digestive; a few drops over ice cream or in baking, where chefs use it like vanilla's bitter cousin. More cocktail essentials are across our spirits collection.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Angostura bitters made from?
The recipe is secret and the brand does not publish it — the label names gentian among a blend of herbs, spices, fruits and roots, made in Trinidad & Tobago since the 1870s.

How much Angostura should I use?
Dashes, not measures — two to three dashes per cocktail is standard; the bitters are 44.7% ABV but contribute negligible alcohol at dash quantities.

Why is the label too big for the bottle?
Brand lore tells it as a 19th-century ordering mix-up between Siegert's sons that left the labels larger than the bottles; customers recognised it instantly, so the house kept the oversized label as its signature.

The dash that built the cocktail — order Angostura Aromatic Bitters online from Del Mesa Liquor in San Diego, CA.