Who knew that this unassuming pink building in Downtown Raleigh was home to an award-winning bitters company?
On a breezy fall Friday evening, we geared up to learn all about bitters and put our best mixology minds together. Crude Bitters and Sodas has been around since 2012 but, it was not until 2018 that they opened their cocktail supply shop and classroom, The Bittery to public for bitters classes. Crude bitters is NC’s first cocktail bitters company specializing in bitters and sodas.
We took a class on bitters and old fashioneds, and learnt extensively about the history of cocktails, prohibition’s role in shaping up the industry, and how bitters came into being. Since the bittery is also a cocktail supply store, we started off by going around exploring some of the bitters and cocktail supplies, and bar accessories at their store.
When it was time for us to start the class, we were handed off a Hollerith card to clock in and record our cocktail class time-in.
Craig, one of the owners and creative-heads behind Crude Bitters and Sodas, took us on a journey through the history of cocktails and bitters, while handing out a carafe of Whiskey and Rum old fashioned for us to mix our own concoctions with various bitters.
For our class, Craig had come up with bitter pairings but, we were encouraged to experiment with whatever bitters we wanted to try as well. The interesting part is how just a few drops of bitters go a long way in elevating the cocktail.
It must be noted that the bitters offered by Crude Bitters are non-potable, meaning they are cocktail bitters and extracts, and extremely strong, so they can’t be consumed by itself. It takes roughly 2 months to extract all the flavors and aromas, and hence the bitters are made to sit in jars for 1.5-2 months at a minimum. Looking around, you can see a number of glass jars of bitters macerating at Crude Bitters.
Some of the bitters we paired with the old fashioned included orange-fig, cherry-clove-cinnamon, and coffee-cocoa. The orange-fig was easily one of our favorites, and just adding a few drops made the cocktail very aromatic.
We sipped on the Whiskey & Rum old fashioned cocktail with various bitters while enjoying some crunchy caramel and cheddar popcorn to cleanse our palate between sips.
We then moved on to trying a Gin-based old fashioned with some of the other bitters such as rosemary-grapefruit-pepprcon, hibiscus-lavender-oak, and coconut-pineapple-allspice joining the party.
As people who enjoy spicy food, one of our favorite bitters from the evening was the NO NO, a bitters containing various peppers including scotch bonnet, tobago, habanero, scorpion, bell pepper, peppercorn, guajillo, bhut jolokia, and carolina reaper. If you are feeling adventurous for a fiery cocktail, we highly recommend giving this a try so it’s a YES YES for us!
As our class came to an end, not only had we upped our knowledge on bitters but, we also gained some useful knowledge about different and interesting cocktail pairings for the holiday season.
This class overall was a very fun date night for us and we highly recommend this for anyone who is interested to learn about bitters and cocktails. We are already thinking about being back here since the classes offered every week has a different theme.
The cocktail classes are often offered four-five times a month on Fridays and Saturdays every week. For $10, you get to learn and try a number of bitters, and you even get a 10% off on your bitters purchase. As you are thinking about gifts and gift cards this holiday season, bitters make a great gift for anyone in your life who is into making their own signature cocktails, or even a gift for yourself if you fancy a fun cocktail!
Crude Bitters is hosting special 7 year anniversary classes in December.
We hope you get to try this great local Raleigh gem and have as much fun mixing and coming up with your own cocktail combinations as we did!
