DIY Cherry Bitters

Swapping in cherry bitters for Angostura bitters can give your cocktails a subtle yet delightful boost, adding a hint of fruit while still delivering the bitterness your drink needs. The best part about making your own is you can customize your bitters to your cocktailing needs.

DIY Orange Bitters

Just a drop or two of orange bitters can add the right depth to your cocktail or bridge together ingredients that aren't quite living up to their mixological potential. Deep, citrusy, spicy, complex orange bitters are an essential part of so many balanced cocktails.

Barrel-Aged Cherry Soda

If you can barrel-age cocktails, why not barrel-age a mocktail?

Yusho's Pisco Punch

Pisco is grape brandy that hails from Chile and Peru. Like many classic punch recipes, Yusho's Pisco Punch includes tea—a sencha infused with coconut and pineapple, also a prominent flavor in the drink's gomme syrup.

Yusho's Baconian Cipher

With the unique and original ingredient of tamarind bitters and artisanal spirits like Gran Classico, this Negroni-esque cocktail outdoes its inspiration.

Aviary's Bitter

The Bitter cocktail, from the Aviary in Chicago, is served in a glass that's been smoked over a piece of smoldering bourbon barrel stave, which is custom-cut by the cocktail lounge's industrial designer. Fear not—we love this cocktail with or without the touch of smokiness! But if you're feeling adventurous and want to truly re-create this drink at home, used small-format, seasoned barrels are available for purchase online from New York's Tuthilltown Spirits, makers of Hudson whiskey.

Krangostura Bitters

These Krangostura Bitters, a loose play on the quintessential Angostura brand, are brimming with clove and cardamom and supported by a backbone of gentian root and cinchona bark. Try them in your next Manhattan or Old Fashioned and branch out from there.

Apricot Rhyme

Rye plus thyme (rhyme, get it?). This cocktail from Ryan Gannon of The Spotted Pig is herbal on the nose, more fruit-forward on the finish.

Suns 'n Roses (Rum and Stone Fruit Punch)

This porch-appropriate summer sipper is rich and mellow but not too sweet, thanks to a balance of fresh and dried stone fruit, aged rum, and lemon. Adapted from a recipe created by Tommy Quimby for San Francisco's Rich Table, it captures the flavor of ripe peaches and apricots in a simple blended syrup. A little white tea adds volume and delicate floral flavor.

DIY Sweet Vermouth

Sweet vermouth has a delicate balance of rich, spicy, sweet, and bitter flavors, and is an essential ingredient in dozens of classic cocktails.