The Mole Bitters variation makes one change to the Talent Scout — chocolate-and-cinnamon mole bitters in place of the Angostura. It is the smallest possible swap, and it sends the whole drink toward dessert.
Proof of how much work a few dashes of bitters quietly do.
Bitters as a Lever
The Talent Scout has only three ingredients, so each one carries real weight — and the bitters most of all. Swap the standard Angostura for Bittermens Xocolatl Mole bitters, built on cacao and warm spice, and the drink's entire character tilts.
Bourbon Toward Dessert
Mole bitters bring chocolate, cinnamon, and a faint chili warmth. Against bourbon's vanilla and the orange curaçao, they push the Talent Scout into after-dinner territory — a drink to follow a meal rather than precede one.
A Whole Drink From a Dash
It is worth pausing on how little it takes. Two dashes of a different bitters — a few millilitres — remake a cocktail. The Mole Bitters variation is really a lesson: in a minimal drink, the smallest ingredient is rarely the least important.
The Talent Scout Family
A 1951 Old Fashioned riff — bourbon, orange curaçao, and Angostura over a large cube.
- 2 1/4 ozBourbon
- 1/2 ozOrange curaçao
- 2 dashesAngostura bitters
A 100-proof rye for the bourbon — drier, spicier, closer to a true Old Fashioned.
- 2 1/4 oz100-proof rye
- 1/2 ozOrange curaçao
- 2 dashesAngostura bitters
Reposado tequila with pear liqueur — a bright, orchard-fresh riff on the template.
- 2 1/4 ozReposado tequila
- 1/2 ozPear liqueur
- 2 dashesAngostura bitters
French brandy for the bourbon — given the curaçao, almost the canonical version.
- 2 1/4 ozVSOP Cognac
- 1/2 ozOrange curaçao
- 2 dashesAngostura bitters