Even more impressive is that, for bars using two or three bitters brands, Angostura was listed in 97% of them. It’s unsurprising, therefore, that the Trinidad-based brand has never not finished top of our bestselling list in the Brands Report.
Its unquestionable domination of the cocktail bitters category for decades isn’t bad for a product first developed in 1824 as a tonic to alleviate stomach ailments. Aside from Angostura, the competition is fairly tight to complete the top three.
Peychaud’s, in second, is also a historical brand. Produced at the Buffalo Trace Distillery by brand owner Sazerac, it’s a key ingredient in its owner’s namesake cocktail. Indeed, it’s an essential ingredient to the Sazerac, which was named the 20th most-made classic this year. So Peychaud’s is a fixture in most bars that make yesteryear classics – it was found to have a top-three listing in 61% of the world’s best bars.
The Bitter Truth takes third, despite more bars declaring it their number one over Peychaud’s. With a range of products it is the answer to many more questions – but also competes with other ranges. It was found to be on the back bar in 20% of cases. Fee Brothers is another name from the time of pre-Prohibition cocktails, the family business having launched in 1864. Still owned by the Fee family, the range comprises around 20 flavoured bitters. Fee Brothers is a staple in 25% of the bars we polled. Bob’s completes our list, with 10% of bars making it among their top-three bitters brands.
Angostura is not only the top-trending brand in 2021, it also managed to gain territory on the rest of the field and extend its margin at the top by 2%.
Methodology
The results of this report are the culmination of a questionnaire of 106 bars around the world, each cherry-picked to take part based on their performance in global bar awards. We aim to find out not only which brands sell best but also what’s trending. These two data sets give us an insight into the brands that are doing the most volume and the brands that are hot right now.
To read more on the methodology of the Brands Report click here.
