Do not, I repeat, do not buy “bitters” from the grocery store baking aisle. You know the ones—little bottles labeled “Imitation Bitters” next to the vanilla extract. Those are not for cocktails. They’re for baking cakes that taste like lies and regret. Real cocktail bitters have alcohol and complex botanicals; those grocery store impostors are just sugar water with food coloring. If you use them in a Manhattan, you’ll end up with a drink that tastes like a wet paper bag.
Where Do I Buy Bitters for Cocktails