Cocktails with Celery bitters
Celery bitters are cocktail bitters made by tincturing celery seed with supporting herbs and spices in high-proof spirit.
ABV44%In the bottle, negligible in the finished drink since it’s used only in dashes.
Substitutes for Celery bitters
Celery seed carries a vegetal bitterness no fruit or spice bitters has. Whatever stands in brings something extra with it, so plan to re-taste the whole seasoning rather than count dashes.
Often confused with
Celery with salt attached. It puts the flavor into the liquid rather than above it, and the drink needs its own salt reduced to compensate. It brings the flavor and the salinity together, so the drink’s seasoning has to be recalculated whole rather than by the dash.
It holds the bitter-seasoning role and brings no vegetal note, and dash for dash the drink stays together and loses the celery itself.
Storage
Celery seed aroma holds up better than a floral or a citrus but not as well as a spice. The vegetal edge that makes this useful in a Bloody Mary is the part that softens first. Cool, dark, closed, and it will do its job for a couple of years.
