The original Dr J Hostetter's "Celebrated" Stomachic Bitters was formulated in the first hall of the 19th Century by native Pennsylvanian Dr Jacob Hostetter and became popular with the clientele.

In 1853, his son David commercialized the formula - macerated only in the pure essence of Monongahela Rye - that would go on to sell more than 50,000,000 bottles!

During the American Civil War the bitters were rationed to Union Soldiers perhaps dubiously as a "positive against the fatal maladies of the Southern swamps and the poisonous tendency of the impure rivers and bayous" and was enjoyed so universally that it found its way onto the back bar of every respectable saloon in America and beyond!

Today's formulated bitter combines original ingredients with aromatics and botanicals, rose and candied fruit and the Red Carmine extract of the cochineal cactus beetle.