The Easiest Trick To Balance An Overly Sweet Cocktail

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Attempting the best bartending skills at home, only to have a drink come out far too sweet, is disappointing to say the least. Luckily, David Kravitz, award-winning sommelier and Beverage Director at The Group Hospitality (which heads up prime spots like Boucherie, Omakase, and Olio e Più, the latter of which has locations in New York, Chicago, and D.C.), says it's possible to course-correct an overly sweet cocktail with one simple trick: Adding bitters. "Using bitters in overly sweet cocktails can act the same way as salting food," the beverage expert told Tasting Table, noting that a dash or two of bitters can help "balance and enhance the flavors."

Just like spices and acid can round out flavor profiles in cooking, you can use bitters in a variety of cocktails to provide symmetry by mellowing sweetness and imparting complexity. Made by distilling bitter components like dandelion root or juniper berries with spices in various alcohol bases, bitters are an easy solution for when you accidentally add too much sugar to a drink. And you don't need too much to make a difference. "Just a few dashes can really change the entire character of a drink," Kravitz says. 

Plus, bitters are as versatile as they are flavorful. You can add extra bitters to counteract adding too many sugar cubes to drinks that typically include the ingredient, like a classic Old Fashioned. Or you can add bitters for better flavor balance in already-sweeter cocktails like an orange creamsicle drink or a whiskey sour.

When it comes to a well-balanced cocktail, Kravitz recommends "tried and true" classic bitter brands like Angostura Aromatic Bitters and Regan's Orange Bitters for the job. Citrus bitters work excellently in bourbon-forward cocktails to balance and enhance deep, spicy, or woody flavors of the spirit, and also pair perfectly with orange or grapefruit rind-garnished drinks. While bitters do come in all types of flavors these days (and can generally be fun to experiment with in drinks), Kravitz notes that it's best to stay away from chocolate or vanilla-flavored bitters since these kinds "can often add sweetness rather than balance." 

You could also employ an herbal or root-forward bitter variety like those with floral lavender accents or ginger. In fact, lighter bitters work well to balance the sugar and other ingredients in cocktails made with lighter spirits like gin. Think: gimlet, gin and tonic, or a good homemade French 75. When all else fails, of course, if your cocktail is still overly sweet and you'd like to cut the sugar even further, you can dilute the drink by adding a big ice cube to the mix. Or add some bitters before shaking up your cocktail and serving it on the rocks to balance some of the sweetness.