Why buy Botanical | Spice Angostura Bitter

In most aspects of life we appreciate the finishing touch, the final detail that sets it apart from the rest and makes it rise above our heads. This is what happens when, for example, you add the collaboration of one of your favourite singers to a concert by your favourite artist; when you add the final touch of the best grated cheese to spaghetti in the right spot and with the right sauce; or when you add a few drops of a legendary concoction to a gin and tonic that makes you salivate. This secret potion is Angostura Bitter.

Port of Spain, the capital of Trinidad and Tobago, is the center of operations from which the original recipe for Angostura Bitter is distributed to the world. It was created by German doctor Johann Gottlieb Benjamin Siegert in the late 1920s in Angostura, now Venezuela's Ciudad Bolívar. Almost two centuries have passed since that discovery, and the recipe for Angostura Bitter remains a mystery to the vast majority of mortals, except for the descendants of the physician. Gentian, quinine or sarrapia are some of the plants that are known to form part of a network that is completed by some twenty botanists not revealed to the world.

Tasting notes. Sight, smell and taste

A classic bottle, a small water type with sizes of 10 or 20 cl., is the protector of the treasure shared by Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago. Since 1875 the name Amargo de Angostura and the label have remained unchanged, the latter being characterized by the presence of four languages on the label and the signature of its creator, Johann Gottlieb Benjamin Siegert. Once opened, the concoction is transparent, crystalline and brilliant, with bitter aromas coming mainly from gentian. Finally, in the mouth it presents again that bitterness that characterizes it and occupies its name.

How to taste it. Pairing

As for the best way to taste it, from Yo pongo el hielo without a doubt we recommend doing it as an accompaniment to cocktails, providing that final touch that a great glass becomes almost heavenly. In gintonics, mojitos, old fashioned, Cuba Libre, Manhattan or Pisco Sour it acts as a differentiating element. In addition, Angostura Bitter can also be used as a seasoning for soups and sauces.

The beginning was cholera

In 1822, the city of Santo Tomás in New Guiana de la Angostura del Orinoco was devastated by a cholera epidemic that was decimating its population. The town, which would later be known only as Angostura and now as Ciudad Bolivar, was in need of a savior, and the German doctor Johann Gottlieb Benjamin Siegert arrived with a concoction he had made. Known as Amargo de Angostura and made up of more than twenty botanists of which the great majority are still unknown today, the potion managed to calm the stomachs of Venezuelans, and in turn began a legend that continues almost two centuries later, already turned into an accompaniment to cocktails, soups and sauces.

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