In Succession, Kendall Roy (Jeremy Strong) has ordered bitters and soda on at least two occasions. He’s supposed to be (once again) in recovery. But bitters contain alcohol. Angostura, for instance, is 44.7% alcohol (89.4 proof). Granted, the amount of alcohol in a few dashes of bitters is miminal. But still.
Does this detail signify? In other words, do the show’s writers understand bitters? Do they expect the viewer to understand bitters? Is the viewer meant to recognize that Kendall Roy is still partaking, even if it’s in a minimal way? Or is this detail a non-detail, not even meant to be noticed?
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Elaine posed these questions on reddit, where someone pointed out that there are non-alcoholic bitters. True. But asking for bitters and soda will return a glass with bitters that contain alcohol. My question is not whether it’s okay for someone in recovery to drink bitters and soda; it’s what, if anything, the viewer is supposed to make of Kendall’s choice, and that depends on what the show’s writers know about bitters.
[A glance around the Internets will confirm that not everyone knows that bitters contain alcohol.]
Tuesday, April 11, 2023
A bitters thought
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comments: 7
If it weren't meant to be understood that bitters contains alcohol, why include it? It would be easy for him to order a completely non-alcoholic drink.
It could be that the writers don’t think that bitters contain alcohol. Or they might know people in recovery (or more or less in recovery) who drink bitters and soda, which could make them think it’s a drink for people abstaining from alcohol. Hard for me to gauge what the writers know and what they expect the audience to know.
As a UK person who part-owns a pub with other family members, I have to confess I don't know what "bitters" are! We use the word bitter (singular) for a particular style of beer, where the bitterness comes from hops. That is typically around 4% proof, but from what you wrote it sounds more like some kind of spirit at 44%?
Either way if someone came in and said they were in recovery and would it be OK to drink bitter, the answer would be no even at our 4% version.
Yes, bitters have a high alcohol content, but just a couple of dashes go into a cocktail (or a bitters and soda). I remember though reading about a bar that served a shot of straight bitters. (No thanks.) If I ever make it to your pub, Richard, I will happily order a pint of bitter, no s. : )
How “bitters” came to mean what it means is a rabbit hole I’ll mark for investigation.
Here’s the Wisconsin bar that serves shots of bitters.
Tracy and I stayed at a small inn (more like a motel as I recall it, but there are almost no cars allowed on the island) right next to that bar. We didn’t have bitters, but we had dinner and drinks several times during our stay. Lovely place, at least it was 20 years ago or so. And very proud of their origin story.
Way cool! It is such a small world.
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