Bitter Truth Pink Gin Review

Travel Distilled tries a pink gin from The Bitter Truth company, better-known for its amazing collection of bitters.

I thought pink gin was a fairly recent fad, with more and more pink gins coming onto the market as the renewed interest in gin continues to grow.

The History of Pink Gin

But no. Pink gin dates back to the middle of the 19th century in the UK. It was thought that Angostura Bitters were a good cure for seasickness, and the British Royal Navy encouraged its sailors to drink the bitters by adding Plymouth gin, a sweet gin, to make them more palatable.

Personally I think the sailors knew a good thing when they saw one, especial as the gin was Navy Strength. Pretty soon they were downing the gin and bitters for breakfast, and demanding the mix in bars. Pink gin was officially a thing.

The Bitter Truth

The Bitter Truth is a company set up by two Munich bartenders, Stephan Berg and Alexander Hauck, who were great fans of bitters and wanted to promote what they thought was an under-appreciated cocktail ingredient.

In 2006 they launched their first products, Orange Bitters and Old Time Aromatic Bitters, quickly followed by Lemon Bitters. Since then they’re created an amazing array of bitters, including Celery Bitters, Cucumber Bitters, Creole Bitters, Olive Bitters and even Chocolate Bitters.

They also diversified into producing liqueurs including Apricot Liqueur, Violet Liqueur and Elderflower Liqueur. Their products have won numerous awards over the years, and they recently added a pink gin to their portfolio.

Bitter Truth Pink Gin Review

On the nose it really packs a punch. There’s bitter, there’s fruit, there’s floral. My wife said cinnamon and dental rinse, in a nice kind of a way. I see (or rather smell) what she means, with a medicinal element to it as well.

On the palate it’s an equal mix of the powerful and the subtle. Strong on juniper, with lots of spice, and liquorice. We also tried it with a Q tonic and that was excellent. It softened the harshness (and the dental rinse) and produced a very tasty G&T with just a dash of colour. It’s more of a browny-pink, like a pale whisky, and very attractive. You definitely don’t need any lemon or lime with this. I can see I’ll have to get my hands on some more pink gin, to compare.