Cocktails with Walnut bitters
Walnut bitters is a cocktail bitters whose defining flavor is walnut, used in small dashes for a nutty accent.
ABV: High in the bottle, but negligible in dashes — makers differ too widely for a single figure.
How it's used
A dash or two gives a warm, nutty aroma with no sweetness, which is what separates it from a nut liqueur. Old Fashioneds, Manhattan-style builds and coffee drinks suit it.
Substitutes for Walnut bitters
Another nut bitters
Swaps dash for dash. Only the nutty shade changes.
A barspoon gives the walnut, along with a little sugar and alcohol.
Aromatic bitters
A dash of something like Angostura keeps the bitterness, but the nutty note is gone.
Without bitters
The drink stands without the dash.
Storage
It keeps well: the walnut oil that turns rancid in a kitchen barely makes it into a bitters. Expect the color to deepen slowly, with little loss of character.
