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The Fabled Pour

Orange bitters

Also called Regans' Orange Bitters No. 6, Fee Brothers West Indian Orange Bitters, Angostura Orange

Bitters built on bitter orange peel with cardamom and other spices in high proof spirit. A dash sharpens a Martini, an Old Fashioned or a Manhattan and brightens anything with gin or whiskey. Regans' No. 6 and Fee Brothers are the modern standards, often used together.

  • bitter orange peel
  • cardamom
  • caraway
  • coriander
  • gentian
  • warm spice

Origin

Orange bitters appear in many 19th century recipes, including early Martinis, then vanished through the 20th century; by the early 2000s Fee Brothers of Rochester, New York was the only commercial brand, and historian Ted Haigh had to call the owner to get a bottle. Gary Regan made his own from a 1946 Charles H. Baker recipe and passed batches to bars until Sazerac launched Regans' Orange Bitters No. 6 in 2005. Angostura Orange followed in 2008 and the category now holds more than two dozen brands.

Production and safety

Used in dashes; the bottle keeps indefinitely at room temperature.

Allergens: None

Common uses

  • martini
  • old-fashioned
  • manhattan
  • Revolver
  • a Gin Sour or Tom Collins

Pours that use it

Sources

  1. The real story of orange bitters, Punch · secondary source, retrieved 2026-10-11