The Bitters End

I recently concluded a rambunctious Satchmofest / bachelor party weekend at Cure. The Freret Street bar is one of my favorites, and one reason is Rhiannon. An expert bartender, she never fails to both entertain and educate. As the debauchery wound down on Sunday we headed to Cure for a restorative sazerac which got us on the subject of aperitifs and bitters revival. Some of you know what bitters are, but for those that don't an explanation of them by the undoubted drinks expert Wayne Curtis can be found in his Men's Journal article. Bitters give drinks like sazeracs their unique taste. Rhiannon gave us a sample of several without identifying them, placing them in numbered glasses. The second from left was my favorite, and my friends agreed. We all thought the sample at far right was harshest. She then replaced the glasses with the bottles, and we were surprised the one we liked the least turned out to be the old standby Campari. The one we liked best was named Aperol, a low-alcohol aperitif also from Italy. Our livers clearly responded to the low-alcohol content after what we put them through. We raised a glass. Last call for Aperol -- and a memorable weekend.