Bitters Bottle 50ml with Stainless Steel Dash Pourer

For the bar with more than two bitters on the list that wants the Old Fashioned to come out the same on all three shifts. A measure of bitters is not taken with a jigger, because we are talking tenths of a millilitre: it is measured by the tool, and a dash is whatever that spout lets through. A bitters bottle with a dash pourer takes the measure out of the pouring hand and puts it in the tool.

Between 0.7 and 1ml, and it is not a standard measure: it is what comes out of that pourer with one flick. The number matters less than its repeatability. Two or three dashes change an Old Fashioned, ten ruin it, and nobody sees the difference between three dashes and five until the drink comes back. With this bitters bottle you count flicks, and everyone on the team does it the same way.

• Capacity: 50ml
• Body: glass
• Pourer: dash top, stainless steel
• Fitting: pourer included, already fitted in the neck
• Dosing: one dash per flick of the wrist
• Use: aromatic bitters, tinctures and house-made preparations

A steel pourer, and why not plastic

Because bitters are aggressive concentrates. An aromatic bitters runs at around 40% abv and carries root and spice extracts at levels no other ingredient on the bar comes close to: on a plastic spout that repeated contact leaves colour and smell, and after a few months the next preparation comes out already tainted by the last. Stainless steel holds on to nothing and rinses clean in two seconds.

Fifty millilitres, and how often it needs filling

Fifty millilitres is roughly sixty dashes. With a bitters that goes into a best-selling drink it runs out in a few weeks; a niche one lasts a season. It is the right size for a house-made tincture, which should be used while it is fresh: filling a larger container means keeping too much open for too long and ending up pouring it away.

Decanting Angostura makes sense, for two reasons

The first is the measure. The original bottle has a spout that lets out a wide stream, and with that, repeatability is down to the wrist. The second is how the station reads: a row of identical bitters bottles with clear labels can be read at a glance even at speed, while bottles of different shapes make you search. Bars working lists with many bitters decant everything, commercial ones included.

Clear glass, and where to keep it

Clear glass shows the level and the colour, which on the bar is both practical and good to look at. In return it does not protect from light: keep the bitters bottle in view but not on a windowsill or under a spotlight, because aromatic extracts fade in direct light. For preparations that need to last months, dark glass remains the better choice.

Care

Wash by hand in warm water and rinse thoroughly before changing preparation. Pull out the pourer and rinse it separately: that is where extracts settle and dry, and a partly blocked spout changes the measure without it showing. Counting dashes into a measuring cylinder now and then is worth more than any inspection by eye.

FAQ

Is the pourer included? Yes, the bitters bottle arrives with the stainless steel dash pourer already fitted.

How much does it hold? 50ml, roughly sixty dashes.

How much is a dash? Between 0.7 and 1ml: it depends on the spout, which is why you count flicks.

Does it work for house-made preparations? Yes, that is its most common use, along with decanted Angostura.

Is it dishwasher safe? Hand washing is better, with the pourer pulled out and rinsed separately.

What is the difference from a dropper bottle? A dropper draws up with the pipette and releases where you point it; a dash goes into the tin and counts in the spec.

Dispatched from Rome, Italy. The other bottles are in the bitters bottles and atomisers category.