A Valentine’s dinner without the perfect cocktail is like a love story missing its plot twist – which is why we are taking a look behind the bar at some of our favourite local experts’ go-to V-day sips.

Matthew Cox from Queen’s Bar keeps it simple with an effortlessly elegant Champagne Cocktail – easy to make, easy to enjoy! All you have to do is “soak a sugar cube in ANGOSTURA® aromatic bitters, then drop it into a Flute [glass] with a healthy pour of quality brandy, topped with your favourite sparkling wine and garnished with an orange twist” and voila!

Champagne Cocktail

Ingredients:

• 75ml sparkling wine
• 10ml brandy
• 1 sugar cube
• 3-5 dashes ANGOSTURA® aromatic bitters
• Orange twist

Method:

Soak the sugar cube with the bitters, then place into a flute glass. Add in the brandy, then top up with sparkling wine. Finally, garnish with an orange twist.

Tjing Tjing’s Phillip Burrows attests that a ‘good old Manhattan’ is his cocktail of choice for the holiday of love (you can’t go wrong with a classic!). “ANGOSTURA® aromatic and orange bitters, a good bourbon and quality vermouth with a spray of rose water” is all you need to make the evening special!

Good Old Manhattan

Ingredients:

• 75ml bourbon
• 30ml sweet vermouth
• 2-3 dashes ANGOSTURA® aromatic bitters
• 1-2 dashes ANGOSTURA® orange bitters
• Spray of rosewater
• Orange peel

Method:

Fill a martini glass with ice to chill while you mix the Manhattan.

Add the bourbon, vermouth, bitters and a spray of rosewater to a shaker with a few ice cubes, then stir or shake gently. Remove ice from the glass and strain Manhattan into glass. Garnish with an orange peel.

Nick Crouse from Talking to Strangers says he “like[s] to make a twist on a French 75 with a sous vide strawberry syrup and a dash of ANGOSTURA® orange bitters”.

French 75 (with a Valentine’s twist)

Ingredients:

• 35ml London Dry Gin
• 20ml strawberry syrup
• 20ml fresh lemon juice
• 50ml MCC2 dashes ANGOSTURA® orange bitters
• Rose petal

Method:

Add the gin, lemon juice and simple syrup into a shaker with ice and shake until well-chilled. Strain into a flute glass. Top with MCC, and garnish with a rose petal.

So, as you intricately plan out the perfect Valentine’s evening, make sure to mix up these behind-the-bar recommendations!

For more information on the Angostura range and delicious food and cocktail recipes, please visit www.angosturabitters.com.

Follow Angostura South Africa on Facebook /Angostura South Africa and Instagram @AngosturaZA for fun facts, recipes and brand updates.

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Issued by: Paul Reynell
Paddington Station PR
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021 447 0564

On behalf of: Kgalaletso Dithejane
DGB (Pty) Ltd
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011 653 1000

About ANGOSTURA® bitters

The proud history of the House of ANGOSTURA® began almost two hundred years ago in 1824, when founder Dr. Johann Siegert first produced aromatic bitters in the city of Angostura in Venezuela. Recognised over the centuries by the granting of Royal Warrants of Appointment to the royal households of Great Britain, Prussia, Spain and Sweden, ANGOSTURA® aromatic bitters is the world’s market leader, an essential ingredient in premium cocktails, and a mainstay of cocktail culture. ANGOSTURA® orange bitters was launched in 2007 and is made from its own special recipe, with a complex blend of tropical oranges and spices. ANGOSTURA® cocoa bitters uses the world’s finest Trinitario cocoa from Trinidad and Tobago creating a sensory fusion that, after years of nurturing, brings superior flavour to the hands of bartenders, chefs and at-home connoisseurs.

The House of ANGOSTURA® also produces an international range of rums with five distinctive blends: Angostura 1824®, Angostura 1919®, Angostura® 7-Year-Old, Angostura® 5-Year-Old and Angostura® Reserva. The newest product in the portfolio is the multi award-winning Amaro di ANGOSTURA® - a blend of their finest bitters and rums, leveraging their unsurpassed heritage.