Boker's Bitters

Boker's Bitters was a brand of bitters manufactured by the L. J. Funke Company of New York City.^[1] The ingredient is specified in nearly every cocktail that called for bitters in Jerry Thomas' 1862 book, How to Mix Drinks or The Bon Vivant's Companion. Among the ingredients were quassia, cardamom, and bitter orange peel.^{[citation needed]}

The Boker's company was a leading brand of bitters until the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 and eventually closed during the Prohibition era in the 1920s.

History edit

Johann Gottlieb Böker created the bitters in 1828. The Boker's company was a leading brand of bitters until the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 and eventually closed during the Prohibition era in the 1920s.^[2]

Until 2009, no samples of the bitters were known to exist, and as the recipe had never been published, recreating it seemed unlikely. That year, a man showed up at the London Bar Show with a small remaining sample, which was then combined with extensive research (including interviewing descendants of John Boker), to recreate a facsimile of the bitters.^[3]^[4] Consequentially, as a result of the collaborative effort of beverage aficionados, the likely recipe began circulating online, and several well-established, modern bitters brands began offering their own renditions of the Boker's recipe — whether in perpetuity or as a one-off. Those brands include Philadelphia distillers, Dr. Adam Elmegirab, and The Bitter Truth.

Cocktails with Boker’s Bitters edit

Absinthe Cocktail
Champagne Cocktail
East India Cocktail
Faivre's Pousse Cafe
Fancy Brandy Cocktail
Gin Cocktail
Improved Cocktail
Japanese Cocktail
Jersey Cocktail
Knickerbein
Manhattan Cocktail
Martinez
Old Tom Gin Cocktail
St. Croix Crusta
Saratoga Cocktail
Sherry Wine and Bitters
Soda Cocktail
Vermouth Cocktail
Whiskey Cocktail
Whiskey Crusta

References edit

^ Wondrich, David (2015). Imbibe! Updated and Revised Edition. Penguin Publishing Group. ISBN 9780698181854.^{[page needed]}
^ "Boker's (Bogart's) Bitters". Difford’s Guide. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
^ Ellwood, Mark. "Departures | The Bitters Truth". Departures.
^ Elmegirab, Adam (23 February 2011). "The Jerry Thomas Project: Dr. Adam Elmegirab's Bitters - The story..." The Jerry Thomas Project. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 12 June 2019.

External links edit

[1] Wondrich, David (2015). Imbibe! Updated and Revised Edition. Penguin Publishing Group. ISBN 9780698181854.^{[page needed]}

[2] "Boker's (Bogart's) Bitters". Difford’s Guide. Retrieved 14 February 2020.

[3] Ellwood, Mark. "Departures | The Bitters Truth". Departures.

[4] Elmegirab, Adam (23 February 2011). "The Jerry Thomas Project: Dr. Adam Elmegirab's Bitters - The story..." The Jerry Thomas Project. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 12 June 2019.

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