Angostura Aromatic Bitters (200 ml)

Angostura Aromatic Bitters was first compounded in 1824 by Dr. Johann Gottlieb Benjamin Siegert, a German surgeon serving Simón Bolívar's army in the Venezuelan town of Angostura (now Ciudad Bolívar) — formulated originally as a digestive tonic, not a cocktail ingredient. Production relocated to Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago in 1875, where the House of Angostura has operated ever since, drawing on the island's tropical climate and humidity as a passive aging and blending environment for its botanical macerations.

The formula is a closely guarded proprietary blend of gentian root and a reported 40+ botanicals, macerated in a neutral grain spirit base and bottled at 44.7% ABV without chill-filtration. The production method relies on cold maceration of dried herbs, bark, and spice materials rather than distillation of botanicals — preserving bitter glycosides and volatile aromatics that distillation would strip. The oversized paper label — famously mismatched to the bottle — dates to an 1880s packaging error that became permanent brand identity.

What separates this expression from all category peers is the unbroken 200-year formula continuity: no reformulation, no line extensions diluting the core recipe. The 200 ml format delivers the full-strength 44.7% concentration used by professional bartenders globally.