Stoughton bitters

Defunct proprietary English stomach bitters dating to 1690s that achieved great fame and wide imitation for two hundred years. Stoughton’s was a concentrate intended to be added to beer or wine, to produce “instant purl”—a medicinal drink that would ordinarily require time consuming infusion. As such, Stoughton’s is the original “bitters”, and its use comprises the de facto original cocktail. The original recipe has not survived, but many recipes for ersatz Stoughton’s have, with certain commonalities, particularly gentian, bitter orange, and cochineal. (See also red bitter aperitif liqueur, and Campari.) Stoughton’s—or its imitations—is specified in some 19th century cocktail recipes and was probably the first bitters employed in American cock-tail, but the stuff was evidently out of fashion by the 1860s, displaced by other bitters, most notably Angostura Bitters. 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.