Fee Brothers Aztec Chocolate Bitters

Rating: 21/23 I was in the market for chocolate bitters, but I got a recommendation for these "Aztec" chocolate bitters, so I gave them a shot. I'm not sure if they're going to quite be what I'm looking for, but I'm sure I'll find a use for them. Holy cow! These are probably the best bitters I've ever tried! There's so much richness, nuance, and decadence that they add to a cocktail. Just wow. Angostura is already amazing, but these have just raised the bar so much. I don't know. I've spent months trying this at this point and comparing/contrasting it with other bitters. I think that this even beats the excellent Angostura (19/23). It's hard to place this, but I'm inclined to give it a 21. This isn't so revolutionary that I'd consider a 23, but this is so good in most circumstances and add such delicious decadence, that I think this beats the Angostura. I could believe a 22, but I could also believe lower than a 21. So a 21 seems fine. As a final note, I'm shocked by how low the ABV is here. That's neither bad nor good. It's just surprising and worth keeping in mind. I love this, but obviously only for cocktails. There are plenty of things that are only good in cocktails, so a low ABV here doesn't create chaos, especially considering its puncuating flavor. In the end, I'm going with a 21. This is delightful.

I have a number of bitters, probably too many, and one that I have a good number of is chocolate bitters. These were one of my first and while they are decent enough, I find them lacking in comparison to others (Scrappy's, Bitter Truth, Bittermens, etc). The biggest complaint I find with these is they taste too artificial and lack any bitterness. As a flavoring agent they get the job done, but if a recipe doesn't specifically call for these bitters, I avoid using these since those cocktails tend to fall flat. The price is hard to beat, so I'm sure most buy them because of that price, but I think the others mentioned above are worth the extra $5. You can actually get the Bitter Truth and Scrappy's chocolate bitters in a bundle pack, often for only $20.

Artificial chocolate flavor and for some reason a strong black licorice note