What is a beater?
In modern culture, it is customary to call a bitter a number of different alcoholic beverages with a strength from 6 to 50 degrees. These include both some brands and whole types of tinctures, liqueurs, vermouths and even beer. There are also non-alcoholic bitters, of which Schweppes is a prominent representative.
All of these drinks have a common denominator. We are talking about their inherent bitterness, resulting from the use of certain plant components in their preparation: herbs, leaves, stems, roots, fruits, seeds, and even bark. Actually, the very word “bitter” (bitter) in translation from German and English means nothing more than “bitter”.
The most famous bitters:
Becherovka
Campari
Riga balsam
Jagermeister
Zubrovka
Martini bitter
Pepper vodka
Stark
And a number of other bitters…
History of bitters
The practice of using bitter herbal additives in the manufacture of alcoholic beverages has been known since ancient times. Take, for example, the bitter beer popular among the Nubians living in the territory of modern Sudan or the ancient Greek prototype of vermouth, whose creation is attributed to the famous physician Hippocrates.
However, the history of modern alcohol-based bitters began around the XNUMXth century, a few decades after the appearance in Europe of “aqua vita” or, more simply, ethyl alcohol.
Educated Benedictine monks from southern Italy were the first to appreciate the medical potential of the new substance. It was here, in one of the monasteries in the vicinity of Salerno, that the first bitter medicinal alcohol tincture appeared, which included berries and cones (berries) of juniper growing nearby.
Medieval monks perceived bitters exclusively in a medical context. The bitter and bitter decoctions they created were prescribed for serious diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, banal problems with digestion, or in case of colds of varying degrees of complexity. Therefore, it is not surprising that even such popular alcoholic drinks today as Riga Balsam and Becherovka were originally created exclusively for medical use.
It took about four centuries before a mixture was made in France in 1533, which even today could unmistakably and unconditionally be classified as bitters. The only, but very significant, difference was that in those distant times, such drinks should not be looked for in a vintner’s shop, but in a pharmacy establishment.
New horizons opened before the creators of bitters as a result of acquaintance with the healing properties of numerous representatives of the plant kingdom of the New World. As a result, Angostura (the most famous bitter in the world) present today in any self-respecting bar appeared.
Interestingly, due to their disinfectant qualities and the ability to effectively quench their thirst, bitters became an integral part of the diet of European settlers who settled in tropical and equatorial colonies.
Beginning in the second quarter of the 1904th century, bitter mixtures prepared on an alcohol basis began to appear in restaurants and pubs. The next quite predictable step was the creation of bitters, originally focused on the restaurant business. The first such drink was the Italian Campari, which appeared in XNUMX.
In the following decades, the fashion for the production of alcoholic beverages belonging to the category of bitters swept Italy and neighboring France. Today, more or less popular bitters are produced in dozens of countries around the world.
How are beaters made?
Beer and wine based bitters
Here everything happens quite simply. The degree of bitterness of beer is predominantly determined by the amount of hops added during the brewing process. The level of bitterness of vermouth depends on the ratio of herbs included in the water-alcohol tincture, combined with wine.
Alcohol based bitters
There are several options for the base itself. It can serve as grain or grape, as well as cane or even potato spirits (according to experts, the latter is used in the Danish Gammeldansk Bitter Dram).
As for herbal ingredients that give this or that bitter its uniqueness, there are an inexpressible number of them: from traditional wormwood and gentian to lemon peel and exotic cinchona bark.
Bitters based on alcoholized fruits and juices
Also, in the manufacture of bitters, alcoholized fruit and berry juices or fruit drinks are often used, which, as a rule, give the name to the corresponding drink (Bitter-lemon, Bitter-cherry, Bitter-peach, etc.).
Depending on the amount of ingredients used, bitters can be divided into simple and complex (multi-component). The textbook Zubrovka can be considered a classic example of the first option, while Riga Balsam is a typical representative of the second group.
The main stage in the production of alcohol bitters
It is called the Latin term “maceration”. This is nothing more than the insistence on alcohol of the necessary components of the future drink. The process can take from several days to several weeks.
However, manufacturers of the most unpretentious bitters often do without it, simply adding various concentrates and essences to the water-alcohol solution.
Next, the resulting alcohol tincture is filtered and diluted with water to the proper strength. At this stage, as a rule, the belonging of the drink to the number of liqueurs or tinctures is determined. In the first case, caramel, sugar or sugar syrup is added to the bitter, in the second, it remains unsweetened.
Quality bitters are aged from several months to a year.
At the same time, medium-sized drinks mature in containers made of glass or stainless steel, while more aristocratic representatives of the world of bitters, like Becherovka or Jägermeister, spend this time in oak barrels.
In addition to all of the above, some bitters are additionally filtered and distilled to top it off.
How and when to drink bitters?
The culture of drinking bitters is largely determined by their medical background. In particular, due to their digestive properties, these drinks are excellent digestifs and aperitifs. At the same time, the temperature of the use of various representatives of this group of alcohol varies from room temperature to ice cold.
Also, mindful of the anti-cold application of bitters, they are often used as warming agents, consumed both in pure form and added to tea or coffee.
In addition, bitters are popular components of a variety of mixes and cocktails. Here we can talk about both banal mixing with beer or tonic, and multi-stage designs. The most frequently used cocktails are such drinks as Jägermeister, Campari and Becherovka.
In conclusion, it is impossible not to mention the wonderful restorative effect of bitters in the event of an alcohol hangover. This effect is due to a certain influence of their inherent bitterness on the work of the pancreas.
Vzboltay sincerely hopes that those who read these lines will need to use this property of bitters as rarely as possible.
Relevance: 07.02.2021
Tags: Other alcohol, Bitters
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