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NOFFLA NEWS
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My favourite...
In our monthly column outlining NOffLA members’ favourite tipples, Judith Boyle of Boyle’s Pub and Off-Licence in Kildare, outlines why bitters – although sometimes overlooked – are a fabulous option for adding depth of flavour to cocktails and recreating the bar experience at home Boyle’s Pub and Off-Licence is a family-run, independent offlicence based in Kildare town. As an independent off-licence it is important to support small businesses that give customers value for money but also flavour. During the lockdowns, people were no longer able to rely on bartenders to give them suggestions and make them delicious drinks, so they turned to their nearest off-licence. Consumer profiles changed and so did the products that they picked to give them the bar flavour and experience at home. One of these products was bitters. Bitters are a great addition to any style of drink. Bitters were first introduced in
the 1800s as a medicine used to help stomach issues. They then became an element added to cocktails to give a depth of flavour to the drink and hide the issues with spirits that were made illegally during prohibition. Even during the Temperance movement, people who were teetotallers were still drinking bitters even though it was a highproof infusion. Off the Cuffe bitters were created by a former chef Jarrod Cuffe and Barry Gargan in 2016 in Dublin. The company is based at the Chocolate Factory in Dublin and its whiskey new-make comes from the Teeling Whiskey Distillery. They now have several different flavoured bitters, but I
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still love the original Marmalade Citrus bitters. With its zest and vigour, this accentuates the more delicate notes of marmalade on both palate and nose and works amazingly in an Old Fashioned cocktail. Try a couple of dashes in a club lemon for a more flavourful version of a soda. These bitters also work very well in an amaretto sour. Try it next time you want to discover something delicious in your glass. ■
Did you know? Bitters were first introduced in the 1800s as a medicine used to help stomach issues.
W.D. O’Connell Whiskey Merchants has attracted huge praise for its releases to date
As an independent off-licence, the team at Boyle’s believes it is important to support small businesses that give customers value for money but also flavour Judith Boyle is impressed with Off the Cuffe bitters, based at Dublin’s Chocolate Factory
