SC -bitter tonics

[Christine A Seelye-King]

Here is the posting from the Herb List regarding Bitters origins.  
Christianna
On Tue, 9 Feb 1999 22:22:28 -0800 "David Dendy" <ddendy at silk.net> writes:
>Angostura Bitters are so called because they are made from Angostura 
>bark (Cusparia spp.). That is called Angostura bark because it was 
>originally shipped by Capuchin Friars in Venezuela from the town of
>Angostura (now called Cuidad Bolivar). "Bitters" were originally a
>medicinal  preparations, especially as appetite stimulants; the use in
>mixed drinks is an offshoot.
>
>Francesco
Here's what I've been able to find. An interesting research project,
I'd say, if someone wanted to track down the truth of the matter. I
also have some home recipes that were reported in The Herb Companion
if anyone is interested. I can type them in and send them if people
would like to see them....jasmine, jasmine at infoengine.com


>I would like to know about the origins of the product called "Swedish
>Bitters" [....] Angostura bitters is probably the name of the bar that
>invented it, or maybe the charlatan that sold it as a cure-all tonic?
>Anybody know more about these brands?

The brand that I'm familiar with is Nature's Works Swedish Bitters:

http://www.natureworks.com/nwswdbit.html


Swedish Bitters [at http://www.herbalsupplies.com.au/sbitters.htm ]

"Paracelsus, father of modern medicine, in the 16th Century, but
the recipe disappeared a few years after his death. It stayed
lost for several hundred years, probably existing in the diaries
and medicinal recipes of the learned. One of the people who
wrote it down was a Swedish physician, Dr Claus Samst. It was
only after his death at the age of 104, as the result of a
fall from a horse which he had been in the habit of riding daily,
that the recipe was re-discovered. Even then it kept a low
profile until it came to the attention of Maria Treben who
included it in her book, Health Through God's Pharmacy."


In Honor of Angostura Bitters [at
http://www.gigaplex.com/food/angostur.htm ]

"....Angostura Bitters originated in South America, where in 1824, a
Dr. J.G.B. Siegert came up with a formula for bitters as a tonic
against fatigue and an assortment of stomach ailments for the
army of Simon Bolivar. Soon after, Dr.Siegert moved his family
to Trinidad where they, and their secret recipe, still reside
today. There are various stories about where the secret recipe
resides -- one has it that only four people in the world know
the whole recipe; the other is that the only copy is torn in four,
and locked in separate vaults in Barclay's Bank in New York.
The point seems moot, for I can't imagine anyone wanting to
duplicate the stuff.

Quite a point is made on the label that Angostura is named
for the port town of Angostura, Venezuela, not for the bark of
the angostura tree. Apparently, angostura bark is to Angostura
Bitters what cocaine is to Coca-Cola -- something which was once
used, but has since been deleted for health purposes (it seems
that angostura bark was too often mixed with strychnine bark,
with unfortunate consequences). In case you're curious, according
to William Poundstone's book Big Secrets, the recipe for
Angostura Bitters may, at one time, have included angostura
bark, bitter orange fruit and peel, cinnamon bark, tonka beans,
cloves, calisaya bark, cardamon, carob, ginger, lemon peel,
galangal and zedoary (whatever that is!), with gentian probably
substituted these days for the angostura bark."

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