BG Renolds Xtabay Bitters

Hundreds of classic tiki specs end with the same 1-2 punch: a dash of aromatic bitters and a whisper of absinthe. It's also the easiest place to wreck the drink — one errant drop of absinthe and everything tastes like licorice regret. Xtabay is that 1-2 punch pre-balanced in one bottle: sour cherry for tartness, cardamom, clove, and cinnamon for the savory middle, fennel and aniseed carrying the absinthe register, gentian underneath, and — the secret that makes it work — cracked black peppercorn, which lifts every other aromatic and keeps the flavor standing long into the sip. All of it steeped in aged overproof rum.