Angostura bitters dearth

[Mysterious Mose]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/nov/05/angostura-bitters-shortage

 

[R.A. Stewart]

Aaarrgh! My Manhattans!!

I'm glad to read it seems not to be permanent, though. Meanwhile I have a partial bottle at home, and at two dashes a glass, and no more than I drink, it should last long enough. (To self: There there; it will be OK.)

Makes you think, though. The world's finest cocktail, a veritable cornerstone of Western civilization ... dependent on a single factory!

(Note to self: Start figuring out home bitters recipe ...)

~Rich

 

[clubwitsend]

I heard about this! I hope I don't have any tummyaches lately...bitters and soda is always the best cure for me!

 

[filfoster]

The Bitter and the sweet..

Disturbing news. My 90 year old mum has some though. She puts a dash in her Martini. She says they were made this way back in the 40's. I don't know if that's true but why argue with her?

 

[R.A. Stewart]

I don't have, alas, a really old book of drink recipes, and am at my office now in any case. But I did find this martini recipe at oldfashionedcooking.com that includes orange bitters. Note those quantities!

~Rich

 

[rkwilker]

I use just a splash in my Mojitos. Shortage=bad.

 

[Fletch]

Misread header as Angostura bitters death and assumed someone had expired from the stuff. YIPE!

The in the OP didn't help.

 

[Miss Neecerie]

Misread header as Angostura bitters death and assumed someone had expired from the stuff. YIPE!

The in the OP didn't help.

Wasn't just you.....

 

[R.A. Stewart]

Guess that would be an anguished bitter death.

(I'll be quiet now ...)

 

[Mysterious Mose]

Sorry, been watching Deadwood again, lately.
I just couldn't remember the word 'shortage'. Yeah, it's in the title...
Terrible news, anyway.
B.t.w. 'Popoculus Nauta', that's just excellent !

 

[BlameOnMame]

Oh goodness!!!!
I'm glad that my boyfriend keeps a stockpile of assorted bitters in our cupboard.
Otherwise, I don't know what we would do with our evenings!

 

[Dr Doran]

I still have a bottle. It has been with us since before we got married in 2003. It cannot go bad, can it? I rarely use it.

 

[Mike K.]

I am not particularly alarmed. Having just returned from Trinidad, I can tell you that the facilities are up and running. In fact, with a little homework I also came up with this article that everyone should read:

http://bostonist.com/2009/10/30/angostura_bitters_shortage.php

Turns out, the company ceased making bitters over the past year, but they are currently back in production! Sure there may be some lag time for exported supplies to pick up again, but we know how long those little bottles can last.

 

[Boodles]

I expect that for the most part only bars are affected

I expect that for the most part only bars will be really affected by the shortage, unless this thread sets off a run on the stuff! As MikeK said, a bottle of this stuff lasts a long time at home.

I am not particularly alarmed. Having just returned from Trinidad, I can tell you that the facilities are up and running. In fact, with a little homework I also came up with this article that everyone should read:

http://bostonist.com/2009/10/30/angostura_bitters_shortage.php

Turns out, the company ceased making bitters over the past year, but they are currently back in production! Sure there may be some lag time for exported supplies to pick up again, but we know how long those little bottles can last.

 

[Mysterious Mose]

Thanks Mike, excellent news! I need my pink gins. What's Trinidad like? I'm a big early Calypso fan but I only know it from the songs and they were mostly recorded in N.Y.

 

[R.A. Stewart]

I am not particularly alarmed. Having just returned from Trinidad, I can tell you that the facilities are up and running. ... Turns out, the company ceased making bitters over the past year, but they are currently back in production! Sure there may be some lag time for exported supplies to pick up again, but we know how long those little bottles can last.

Glad to have that confirmed, thanks. And appropos of your question, Doran, they do indeed last a long time. 2003? It is to laugh, ha ha, your leetle youngstair bottehl. I don't even know how old mine is, and unless my taste has gone the way of my hair, it seems perfectly OK.

 

[cptjeff]

Disturbing news. My 90 year old mum has some though. She puts a dash in her Martini. She says they were made this way back in the 40's. I don't know if that's true but why argue with her?

They were. They also contained real gin and real vermouth.

Now it's just a glass of vodka or gin.

 

[Dr Doran]

They were. They also contained real gin and real vermouth.

Now it's just a glass of vodka or gin.

Offtopic perhaps but -- I prefer my martinis with a healthy dose of vermouth. I am not one of those people who says "the smallest drop of vermouth" or "pour in vermouth and then pour it out" or "just wave it in the vicinity of the vermouth."

 

[Dr Doran]

It is to laugh, ha ha, your leetle youngstair bottehl.

lol

 

[Ethan Bentley]

Misread header as Angostura bitters death and assumed someone had expired from the stuff. YIPE!

The in the OP didn't help.

Imagine how long it would take to consume just a bottle of the stuff with that tiny hole.

I would say that a bottle last a good long while, buy half a dozen and you'd probably be set for life! lol

I must say I do like The Bitter Truth products but I keep returning to Angostura.

Maybe their diversification into Orange Bitters contributed to their downfall?