Cocktails with Tonka bitters
Tonka bitters are a high-proof cocktail bitters whose defining aroma is the tonka bean, dosed in dashes.
ABV44%Though negligible in dashes.
Substitutes for Tonka bitters
Tonka is hay, vanilla and cherry at once, and no single bottle holds all three. A vanilla bitters with a drop of almond gets two of them, and the hay is what stays missing.
Often confused with
Aromatic bitters
Tonka bitters carry the coumarin aroma of the bean itself, where ordinary aromatic bitters lead on clove, cinnamon and gentian. Dash one for the other and the drink loses its almond-vanilla lift for a spiced one.
Description
The defining note is the tonka bean — the seed of the South American tree Dipteryx odorata — which is rich in coumarin. Coumarin is banned as a food additive in the United States, which limits the availability and legal food use of tonka products there.
Storage
Coumarin, the compound behind the tonka aroma, is stable and long-lived. Keep the bottle closed and away from heat and it will taste the same for years. Sediment is normal and disperses with a turn of the bottle.
