Mr. Bittas

Bitters are mainly known as being used in cocktails, Manhattans and Old Fashions spring to mind, with the most famous Bitters brand being Angostura Aromatic Bitters. It was Developed in 1824 by a German,  Dr. Johan Siegert living in Angostura (now Ciudad Bolívar) Venezuela.

Some history of Bitters here, here(Angostura) and here(Smithsonian).

 I mainly use bitters to flavor water or seltzer, as I rarely make cocktails. Though I have added them to Cube Libras, Smoky Manhattans and Smoggy Beijings*. You can add them to leftovers to change things up, soups, oatmeal, poultices and even warm drinks.

 The Orange Bitters were a more recent 2008 addition to the Angostura line-up.
They have a good website containing history and recipes for cocktails and quite a lot of food recipes.

 Bittermens  A Christmas gift from the Youngest. I use it to mask the taste of a supplement I take to prevent leg cramp.

Scrappy's  Bitters from 2 Sample Boxes

 Chocolate, Cardamon, Grapefruit, Lime

 Orange, Celery, Aromatic, Lavender
Did I ever tell you my family was famous for producing celery seed?

Fee Brothers  A Pre-Prohibition company.

My favorite it the mint, the Cherry tastes like the liquid in the Maraschino cherry jar.

*- I made this up, well every cocktail is made up, but in this case I did not actually make up a drink, just the name.


 Gunther Befestigen, handyman extraordinaire, just back from a Blacksmithing convention finished up the Dining Room yesterday, he did a screen and re-coat using Minwax Ultimate Floor Finish. Ultimate is a Water based floor finish, ready for a second coat in 2 hours, no sanding if second coat is done in less than 24 hours. Minwax recommends application using a synthetic pad, Gunter followed instructions. Light foot traffic after 24 hours, furniture back in 72 hours. We selected a satin finish.

 Transition between hall(unfinished) and Dining Room(finished)

 Far away shot to hide all blemishes.

Corner detail.

Gunther is also making some repairs to the hall floor border strip and tidying up under the saddle of the hall bathroom. Hopefully more on that next weekend.