– **Bittering Agents in Beverages**:
– Caffeine in tea, coffee, and soft drinks
– Hops in beer
– Quinine in tonic water
– Bitter melon in food like stir fry or soup
– Aversive agents in dangerous products like anti-freeze and pesticides
– **Historical Use in Beer**:
– Before hops, herbs like dandelion and heather were used
– Gruit mixtures included burdock root, marigold, and ground ivy
– Some Chinese and Okinawan beer use bitter melon
– Bog myrtle is another traditional bittering agent
– **Other Substances as Bittering Agents**:
– Aloin
– Gesho in Ethiopian honey wine
– Various other substances are used in different beverages
– **Prominent Uses of Bittering Agents**:
– Bitters as digestifs or flavorings
– Dandelion and burdock in traditional British soft drinks
– Bittering agents are widely used in the food and beverage industry
– **References**:
– Savransky, Rebecca’s article on child safety measures for products
– Understanding Beer – A Broad Overview of Brewing
– Gernot Katzers Spice Pages reference
– Example of Goya Dry by Helios brewery in Okinawa
– Category: Food additives
A bittering agent is a flavoring agent added to a food or beverage to impart a bitter taste, possibly in addition to other effects. While many substances are bitter to a greater or lesser degree, a few substances are used specifically for their bitterness, especially to balance other flavors, such as sweetness. Notable beverage examples include caffeine, found naturally in tea and coffee and added to many soft drinks, hops in beer, and quinine in tonic water.
Food examples include bitter melon, which may be mixed into a stir fry or soup for its bitter flavor.
Potent bittering agents may also be added to dangerous products as aversive agents to make them foul tasting, so as to prevent accidental poisoning. Examples including anti-freeze, household cleaning products and pesticides such as slug pellets. In general dangerous products with bright colours, which may be appealing to children, often contain agents such as denatonium. However, the efficacy of using bittering agents for this purpose is not conclusive.