The bitters are the creation of Dr. Johann Gottlieb Benjamin Siegert, a German surgeon general in Simon Bolivar's army in Venezuela. The name "Angostura" comes from the town where he was based, and not for the tree of the same name as commonly thought. In 1824, using gentian blossoms along with other ingredients, he concocted a tonic for Bolivar's ailing wife. The medicine proved so effective that he began to bottle it for commercial sale. Sailors going ashore at the port found the bitters a great remedy for seasickness, and soon Angostura was a stock item in the medicine cabinets of oceangoing vessels. The sailors also found that the medicine added zip to a glass of rum.
In time, such drinks as gin-and-bitters and the ubiquitous Manhattan made Angostura a standard bar accessory. Now manufactured on the Island of Trinidad and Tobago (off the coast of Venezuela), the bitters are sold all over the world, through the direct descendants of the original creator, Dr. Siegert.
From The Food Encyclopedia by Jacques Rolland and Carol Sherman
