Hostetter’s bitters

Defunct Pittsburgh-based herbal stomach bitters marketed from 1853 and called for in 19th century cocktail guides. Likely, along with Stoughton's Bitters, one of the first bitters ever specified for cocktail use. Company went into decline in the mid-1920s and production ended by 1936. Aperitif/digestif bitters is a generic category for bitter-sweet spirit- or wine-based beverage bitters. Consumed straight or in mixed drinks in larger proportions than aromatic bitters or fruit bitters. Prominent examples are Amer Picon, Fernet Branca, Unicum, and Campari. Nearly all aperitif/digestif bitters are complex, proprietary formulas and even products that aim to copy better-known brands tend to noticeably distinct. Factoring the extreme flavor potency of all these liqueurs, none are true substitutes for each other, but often, with careful discretion, not willy-nilly, one can be substituted for a similar one to different (but satisfying) effect.