Editing Bitters (section)

==History==
[[Image:AdvertisementDrCoppsWhiteMountainBitters1883.jpg|thumb|This 1883 [[advertisement]] promised help with a variety of ailments.]]
The origins of bitters go back to the ancient Egyptians, who may have infused medicinal herbs in jars of wine.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.sciencenews.org/article/ancient-remedy-bitter-herbs-and-sweet-wine| title=Ancient Remedy: Bitter Herbs and Sweet Wine| date=13 April 2009| access-date=2013-11-03 }}</ref> This practice was further developed during the [[Middle Ages]], when the availability of distilled alcohol coincided with a renaissance in [[pharmacognosy]],<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.faculty.ucr.edu/~legneref/botany/medicine.htm| title=Medicinal Plants (History)| access-date=2013-11-03 }}</ref> which made possible more-concentrated herbal bitters and tonic preparations. Many of the brands and styles of digestive bitters reflect herbal stomachic and tonic preparations whose roots are claimed to be traceable back to [[Renaissance]] era pharmacopoeia and traditions.

By the nineteenth century, the British practice of adding herbal bitters (used as preventive medicines) to [[Sack (wine)|Canary wine]] had become immensely popular in the former American colonies.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/food/2012/03/history-of-cocktail-bitters/ |title=A Brief History of Bitters |publisher=smithsonianmag.com |access-date=2013-11-03 |url-status=dead |archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20130112012913/http%3A//blogs%2Esmithsonianmag%2Ecom/food/2012/03/history%2Dof%2Dcocktail%2Dbitters/ |archive-date= January 12, 2013 }}</ref> By 1806, American publications referenced the popularity of a new preparation, termed ''cocktail'', which was described as a combination of "a stimulating liquor, composed of spirits of any kind, sugar, water, and bitters".<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.imbibemagazine.com/Origin-Story/| title=Origin of the Cocktail| publisher=imbibemagazine.com| access-date=2013-11-03| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130820225539/http://imbibemagazine.com/Origin-Story| archive-date=2013-08-20}}</ref>

Of the commercial aromatic bitters that would emerge from this period, perhaps the best known is [[Angostura bitters]]. In spite of its name, the preparation contains no medicinal bark from the [[Angostura trifoliata|angostura]] tree; instead, it is named after the town of Angostura, later [[Ciudad Bolívar]], in Venezuela. Eventually the factory was moved from Bolivar to [[Port of Spain]], Trinidad in 1875. German physician {{ILL|Johann Gottlieb Benjamin Siegert|de}} had compounded a cure for sea sickness and stomach maladies, among other medicinal uses.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thespiritsbusiness.com/2016/10/angostura-a-brand-history/|title=Angostura: a brand history|last=Hayes|first=Annie|date=2016-10-05|website=The Spirit Business|access-date=2019-11-29}}</ref> Siegert subsequently formed the [[House of Angostura]] to sell the bitters to sailors.

Another renowned aromatic bitters with nineteenth-century roots is [[Peychaud's Bitters]], originally developed by apothecary [[Antoine Amédée Peychaud]] in [[New Orleans]], Louisiana. It is most commonly associated with the [[Sazerac (cocktail)|Sazerac cocktail]].

A popular style of bitters that emerged from the period is [[orange bitters]], the flavor of which ranges from dryly aromatic to fruity, and which is commonly made from the rinds of [[Bitter orange|Seville oranges]] and spices. Orange bitters are often called for in older cocktail recipes. An early recipe for such bitters is in ''[[The English and Australian Cookery Book]]'':<ref>{{cite book |last=Abbott |first=Edward |title=The English and Australian Cookery Book |url=https://archive.org/details/b21505524 |date=1864}}</ref> "Make your own bitters as follows, and we can vouch for their superiority. One ounce and a half of gentian-root, one ounce and a half of lemon-peel, one ounce and a half of orange-peel. Steep these ingredients for about a month in a quart of sherry, and then strain and bottle for use. Bitters are a fine stomachic, but they must be used with caution."

Bitters prepared from the tree bark containing the antimalarial [[quinine]] occasionally were included in historical cocktail recipes. It masked the medicine's intensely bitter flavor. Trace quantities of quinine are still included as a flavoring in [[tonic water]], which is used mostly in drinks with [[gin]].{{cn|date=February 2025}}

Pioneering mixologist [[Jerry Thomas (bartender)|Jerry Thomas]] was largely responsible for an increase in the popularity of bitters in the United States when he released ''How to Mix Drinks or The Bon-Vivant's Companion'' in 1862.<ref name=NYT103107>William Grimes, [https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/31/dining/31cock.html The Bartender Who Started It All], ''New York Times'', October 31, 2007.</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Uncorked: The bitter revolution |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/dining/recipes/sc-food-0311-uncorked-bitters-20110316-story.html |website=chicagotribune.com |date=15 March 2011 |access-date=11 March 2019 }}; {{cite web |title=The Bitter Truth |url=http://imbibe.com/news-articles/spirits-cocktails/features-the-bitter-truth8643/ |website=imbibe.com |access-date=11 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190315004959/http://imbibe.com/news-articles/spirits-cocktails/features-the-bitter-truth8643/ |archive-date=15 March 2019 |url-status=dead }}</ref>