Fee Brothers Orange Bitters

Fee Brothers Orange Bitters, sold as West Indian Orange Bitters, is a cocktail bitters from Fee Brothers, the family business in Rochester, New York. It comes in a 150ml dasher bottle, is listed at 9% ABV, and is used a few dashes at a time to season drinks.

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The Fee family began trading in Rochester in the 1860s, and the firm is still family owned. Its bitters are glycerine based rather than built on a high-strength spirit. For the orange bitters, the listed ingredients are water, glycerine, oil of bitter orange, gentian and other flavours, with gentian root giving the bitterness and the orange oil giving a bright peel character.

Orange bitters were a standard bar ingredient in the late 1800s and early 1900s, and many classic recipes call for them. A dash or two adds citrus lift and a dry, bitter edge that pulls the other ingredients together, so it is one of the most useful bottles to have next to your aromatic bitters. It is not meant to be sipped or poured like a liqueur.

Add a dash or two to a Dry Martini, stirred with gin and dry vermouth and finished with a lemon or orange twist. It also suits an Old Fashioned made with bourbon, rye or aged rum, a Manhattan, a Martinez or a Negroni. For a quick lift, shake a dash into a gin and tonic or a glass of soda water with orange peel. Since each drink takes only a few drops, a bottle lasts a long time. Keep it capped, upright and out of direct sunlight.