1. Chareau Aloe Vera Liqueur
Aloe Vera (yes, the stuff you put on burns)—who would’ve thought it could make such an amazing beverage? The addition of muskmelon, cucumber and spearmint in Chareau combine to create a liqueur unlike any other on the bar. Mix it with gin or mezcal, adding lime and club soda for a shockingly refreshing cocktail.
2. Shrub & Co. Spicy Ginger Shrub
If I were writing this in Ye Old Colonial Times, I wouldn’t need to explain what shrub is, because every pub you stopped in would have served it. Before refrigeration, the only way to preserve seasonal fruit was to macerate it in vinegar. Our forefathers took the juicy runoff from that, added sugar and soda water, and voilá! Colonial soda, aka shrub! You, however, should forego soda and use this ginger version to make a riff on L.A.’s own cocktail, the Moscow Mule.
3. Mr. Bitters Fig & Cinnamon Bitters
Mis-tah Bitt-ahs hails from Australia, where they make some of the most intense and interesting bitters we’ve tasted. This particular one can jazz up a Manhattan or an Old Fashioned, and will pump up the volume on holiday cocktails.
4. Scrappy’s Aromatic Bitters
Any bartender simply must have aromatic bitters. Use this one as a substitute for Angostora, which uses artificial ingredients. Why choose fake when you can have real?
5. Mestizo Mezcal Añejo
Tequila is for wimps. This smoky but smooth agave spirit is its cousin, but made differently, using the heart—or piña—of the agave plant, which is then roasted in fire pits, imparting that distinctive “I’ve been camping by an open fire” flavor. This añejo version is then barrel-aged, which means it slides down oh-so-smoothly.
6. Crème Yvette
Introduced in 1890, this liqueur of violet petals and berries died the true death in 1969, but the great grandson of its founder rediscovered the recipe and reintroduced it to the market in 2008. Use it to make surprisingly unsweet and complex cocktails like The Blue Moon, a pre-Prohibition classic with gin, lemon juice, Crème Yvette and nothing else.
7. Cappelletti Vino Aperitivo
The orange-hued little sister of Campari, Aperol uses artificial color, and we just can’t have that. Luckily for us, this wine-rather-than-spirits-based apertivo is just now imported to the U.S., with nothing artificial added. Combine it with blood orange juice and Prosecco to get the party started.
8. Gran Classico Bitter
We love a Negroni. OK, two Negronis. Three. But we don’t love artificial color, so we choose Gran Classico Bitter over Campari. Crazy complex and lacking anything artificial, it makes the best Negroni you’ve ever had—as long as you use a good gin and vermouth. Bad shit spoils good shit. (It’s a rule.)
9. Amaro Sibilia
Go anywhere in Italy and the locals have their own amaro—a digestive—served after dinner or mixed into cocktails. This one uses local honey, gentian and a lot of other herbs. They could tell you which ones, but then they’d have to kill you.
10. Wilks & Wilson Adelaide’s Orgeat
If you’re going to attempt to do Tiki, you must have orgeat. Try this one from Wilks & Wilson, which contains nothing artificial and has an intense and lovely almond fragrance and flavor. You’ll be tempted to pour it over ice cream, but don’t—save it for a Mai Tai.