The Bitter Truth Pink Gin

Break out a blushing bottle of pink Gin for Valentine's Day.

Back in 2006, two young bartenders from Munich, Germany were in London for a liquor conference complaining that they could not get any quality mixing ingredients back in Germany. Oh, they could get lemon and tomato juice and things like that. What was missing were those cleverly concocted tasty liquids that separate great cocktails from the hum-drum. We’re talking about bitters. What are "bitters?" Put simply, they are little dashes of distilled, highly condensed flavor. For the skilled bartender, a good core selection of bitters is like a chef’s spice rack. Anyway…

These two young men went back home, researched and dug through ancient recipes and created a new company: The Bitter Truth. They specialized in making the spices for the spice racks of the world’s bartenders and nothing more. But… they have recently branched out in to making pre-mixed version of classic bitter-recipe finished drinks, rare and unique mixing liqueurs, and "finishing waters" which is another thing entirely. The point is that they make high quality products bartenders love and you should buy them and use them to make great craft cocktails.

Pink Gin was a mixed drink before it was a product. Sailors — men known to take a liberty or two with their alcohol — mixed Gin with the classic Angostura bitters to "cure" seasickness. Well, that’s their story and they are sticking to it. The dark red Angostura bitters dashed into the shimmering Gin resulted in pink drink. But hey… no one cares on a cold night at sea keeping watch and "treating" your seasickness, right?

The folks at The Bitter Truth are — almost by definition — experts at bitters and fine distillation. So why not branch out into their own line of Pink Gin? Why not indeed. They mix their own premium bitters into craft distilled Gin and bottled it up for us all to enjoy. Smooth and with a less overpowering spice and juniper flavor that is really good, The Bitter Truth Pink Gin assumes its own identity as a refreshing easy drinker standing on its own sea-legs with nary a stagger.

Smartass Corner:
Think that pink Gin isn’t manly enough for you? In the James Bond novel "Man With the Golden Gun," Bond orders a Pink Gin in the villain Scaramanga’s bar. James Bond could wear a tutu and tiara to a Broadway show and still put the "man" in "manly" my friend.