Honest John Black Walnut Bitters. These have been one of my favorite and most reached for bitters for over a year now since I first discovered this brand. It has a natural warm, spice-filled, nutty flavor and adds beautiful depth to cocktails with darker spirits without being thick and overpowering.

The most popular black walnut bitters I’ve seen are made by Fee Brother’s. Like many of their bitters, it has a bit of an artificial flavor, quite sweet and intense. I think Fee bitters have their time and place, but they tend to dominate and take over a drink with just a drop.

Bitters are essentially concentrated herb/spice/root extracts. The flavor can be extracted by soaking the substance in alcohol, though sometimes glycerin is used in place of alcohol. Glycerin is not as good of a solvent as alcohol (unable to dissolve as many flavor compounds), is less shelf stable, and also has a sweet thick taste. As a result, glycerin based bitters oftentimes have other flavor additives to intensify the flavor.

So, for example, taking a look at ingredient lists –

• Fee Brother’s: Water, Glycerin, Natural Black Walnut Flavor, other Natural and Artificial Extracts and Flavors

• Honest John: Alcohol, Water, Organic Herbs & Spices

That all said, each has their applications for flavoring, but they are worlds apart and not substitutable. Flavorwise this is like the difference between snack almonds and that intense marzipan almond extract. If you’re looking for a natural tasting nutty bitter for your Old Fashioneds, Manhattans, and more…look no further!

Shop for it in their online store! (luckily bitters can ship everywhere, unlike booze!)