NYC's bitters boom

Beyond the Manhattan: The rise of unusual, bold and handcrafted bitters in NYC cocktails

With bartenders morphing into mixologists (and, god forbid, bar chefs), and the discerning drinker's tolerance for pedestrian cosmos and mojitos waning, well-crafted cocktails practically demand unusual new twists. One such twistifying tool in a bartender's bag of tricks are bitters, those potent aromatics used by the drop to give drinks a subtle complexity.

And while still a classic, grocery store Angostura bitters (the one with the plastic yellow cap) just won't cut it anymore. Artisanal is now the name of the game—with bonus points for incorporating exotic herbs, re-creating old recipes and hand-crafting (moustache and arm garters optional). Here are five cocktails from bars around the city, showcasing what it means to be bitter.

By Krista Garcia; photos by Melissa Hom

Pictured: mole bitters in The Slight Detour at Mayahuel