Bitters are an essential ingredient in most cocktails, acting as the binding agent for the strong, sweet, and sour elements. Bitters are also quite useful when you want to take a break from drinking (see: What I Drink When I’m Not Drinking). Bitters are also an excellent way to vary a drink: swap in a unique bitter and you can completely change the flavor profile of a drink.

For your home bar, there are three bitters that you should buy. The first and most important of the three is Angostura bitters. These bitters are by far the most commonly used bitters in drinks, including The Manhattan, Old Fashioned, and Daiquiri. Angostura is also one of the most flavorful bitters—just a few dashes go a long way to adding flavor and aromatics to a drink. Angostura is widely available (you can even find it at Target) and easily recognizable (it’s the bottle with the oversized label). The key bittering agent is gentian root which is combined with a proprietary mix of herbs and spices to give it the unique dark, rich, spicy flavor.

One of the easiest drinks to make in the world is Pink Gin, which is Plymouth Gin with a few dashes of Angostura bitters. It’s a legendary old British Navy drink and still as relevant and delicious today as it was back then.

The second bottle of bitters you need in your home bar is Peychaud’s bitters. Peychaud’s is a key ingredient in the Sazerac (you can’t make one without it) and it can also be used in place of Angostura in an Old Fashioned. As with Angostura, Peychaud’s uses gentian root as its bittering agent, but its flavor profile is lighter, more floral, and slightly spicier. Because Angostura and Peychaud’s are similar, it’s nice to swap Peychaud’s in for Angostura to make quick and easy variation on drinks.

While Angostura and Peychaud’s date back to the 1800s, the third bitters in your home bar is actually a fairly modern product (although it’s based on a recipe in “The Gentleman’s Companion” by Charles H. Baker Jr., published in 1895). Regan’s Orange Bitters No. 6 was created by legendary bar man Gary Regan and is a nice alternative to Angostura and Peychaud’s. With Regan’s Orange Bitters, the bittering agents are cinchona bark and gentian with very clear cardamom and coriander. On top of all that is, of course, bitter orange which is a fantastic note to play with in cocktails. Regan’s Orange Bitters No 6. is great as a stand-in for a Dry Martini and goes very well in cognac drinks.

After you’ve picked up your three essential bitters bottles, there’s a wide range of options and flavors to consider. The bitters space has absolutely exploded over the past year and the range of flavors you can pull from is immense. The ones you should seek out are: Scrappy’s Celery Bitters, the best celery bitters on the market and amazing in almost any drink with lemon; Brooklyn Hemispherical Sriracha Bitters, one of the best ways to add a little heat to a drink, and phenomenal in a Sazerac in place of the Peychaud’s; Dr. Adam Elmegirab’s Dandelion & Burdock Bitters, a perfect balance of bitter and herbal that works extremely well in gin and tequila drinks; and, Bob’s Licorice Bitters, a real rooty licorice that adds a unique note to drinks while not being too dominating.

You can find bitters at many liquor stores, but the best selection of bitters can be found at The Meadow in Portland, OR and New York, NY, as well as online at http://www.atthemeadow.com/.