Bitters Burger - Gastro Obscura

Prepared Foods

Bitters Burger

Who needs a burger and a beer when you can combine beef and alcohol in a single patty?

The world’s largest consumer of Angostura bitters, Washington Island, Wisconsin, doesn’t limit its consumption to liquids. Occasionally, islanders also chow down on bacon cheeseburgers that ooze the herbaceous infusion.

The bitters burger is a special that occasionally pops up on the menu at the island’s iconic Nelsen’s Hall & Bitters Pub. The meal includes a bitters-infused beef burger, with optional melted cheese and two pieces of bacon laid out like treasure map’s X, a potential aid in intoxicated ketchup-aiming.

Nelsen’s Hall invites visitors to join its “Bitters Club,” with the promise of fame, glory, and a small rectangular card proclaiming status as a “full-fledged Islander.” To be inducted, one must take down a full shot glass of the Angostura tincture, a potent substance usually administered by the drop. The bitters shot clocks in at 90 proof, however, so it might be wise for the newly initiated to opt for an alcohol-free burger if they’d like to last rest of the night.

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