By Dathan Kazsuk | Photos by Josh Manning |
Bitters have long been the unsung heroes of the cocktail world—those little brown bottles packed with bold botanicals, quietly working behind the scenes to bring balance, depth, and complexity to your favorite drinks. Once seen as pharmacy relics, bitters are now an essential component behind every good bar—and in Raleigh, one company has been leading the charge.
Crude Bitters, the brainchild of bartender-turned-maker Craig Rudewicz and his wife and partner in crime, Lindsay Lasserre, is North Carolina’s first bitters company. From its humble beginnings in a home kitchen to nationwide acclaim and a brick-and-mortar shop in Raleigh, Crude is helping put the Triangle on the map for craft cocktail culture.
Bitters have a history that stretches back centuries, when herbal tinctures were created as medicinal remedies. Often made with roots, spices, and bark, these early concoctions were used to settle stomachs, ease ailments, and allegedly cure just about everything from colds to seasickness.
By the 1800s, bitters made their way from apothecaries to saloons. Brands like Angostura and Peychaud’s became household names, and in 1806 a publication called The Balance, and Columbian Repository defined a cocktail as “a stimulating liquor composed of spirits of any kind, sugar, water, and bitters.”
Crude launched in 2012, born from Rudewicz’s curiosity while bartending at Little Hen, a farm-to-table restaurant. “I started making my own bitters as a hobby,” he recalls. “But the hobby took over the kitchen. Eventually, we were at farmers markets, and people were asking questions like, ‘What are bitters?’”
The timing was perfect—if not a little ahead of the curve. Crude was the first bitters brand in the state and entered a marketplace that didn’t quite know what to do with them. “Even the ABC [Commission] didn’t know what kind of license we needed,” Lasserre says. “It’s technically not alcohol. It falls somewhere between a food product and an herbal extract.”
That ambiguity turned into an opportunity. “We use high-proof alcohol to extract flavor, but the end product is used in such small amounts that it’s not treated like a spirit,” Rudewicz says. That’s why Crude Bitters can be sold in grocery stores, bars, and gift shops alike.
At their core, bitters are highly concentrated extracts of herbs, spices, fruit peels, and botanicals steeped in neutral grain spirits for several weeks. Crude uses a method called pot maceration, letting all ingredients infuse together for a unified flavor. “We don’t use extracts,” Lasserre says. “Everything is fresh—rosemary we grow ourselves, peppercorns we grind, grapefruit peels we zest by hand.”
The result? A lineup of inventive, cocktail-ready bitters with names like Sycophant (orange and fig), Big Bear (coffee and cocoa), and Bitterless Marriage—a floral, citrus-forward option featured in one of the drinks at Dram & Draught.
“I think bitters are like oil in cooking,” says Kevin Barrett, co-owner of Dram & Draught in Raleigh. “They help all the ingredients blend together and round out a cocktail. If you’re struggling to get a drink just right, a dash or two of bitters can take it to the next level.”
Barrett, who’s experimented with making his own bitters (“They weren’t great,” he laughs), prefers to leave that part to the professionals. “We do all our own infusions and syrups at Dram, but bitters? That’s best left to people like Crude. They’ve mastered it.”
Though Crude started at the Midtown Farmers Market, it now sells in 46 states and ships as far as Australia. Every bottle still ships out of their bright pink production space off Davie Street.
“We pack and ship everything ourselves,” Rudewicz says. “No copackers. No distributors. That way we know who’s buying, and we can maintain quality.”
Still, they’ve always stayed true to their Raleigh roots. “We keep it local,” Barrett says. “There’s no reason not to. Crude has great flavor combinations, and they’re literally down the street.”
Crude’s retail shop serves as both a bitters bar and educational space. “People walk in thinking bitters are just for old-fashioneds,” says Lasserre. “But we show them how to use it in martinis, gin and tonics, even soda water or mocktails.”
That educational mission is central to Crude’s growth. They regularly host classes for home bartenders and pros alike. “We’ve taught classes where people make their own bitters,” Lasserre says. “But most of them come back and say, ‘Okay, we get it now. We’ll just buy yours.’”
Crude plans to expand its retail concept into a standalone store with a full tasting bar and more in-depth classes. “We want to be a one-stop cocktail supply shop,” Rudewicz says. “Not just for our bitters, but for anything that enhances your cocktail experience.”
Crude’s philosophy has always been to innovate rather than imitate. “We didn’t want to be the company making knockoffs of Angostura or Peychaud’s,” Rudewicz says. “If someone’s doing a great black walnut bitters, we’re not going to chase that. Instead, we’ll make rosemary, grapefruit, and peppercorn—or cardamom and caramelized raisin.”
Even Barrett has his preferences. “When I’m working with tequila, I go with orange bitters—it just makes sense,” he says. “Maple syrup in a bourbon old-fashioned? That’s when you reach for black walnut. You have to think about how flavors mix.”
Barrett’s favorite way to explore bitters? “The old-fashioned format,” he says. “It’s classic, versatile, and the perfect base to experiment. Try it with bourbon, rye, tequila—you name it. Then rotate the bitters. It changes everything.”
The recent rise of mocktails has further helped demystify bitters. While most bitters are alcohol-based, the small volume used—just drops—means many people who avoid alcohol still feel comfortable using them.
“For those avoiding alcohol entirely, we also carry glycerin-based options,” Lasserre says. “But for most, bitters are more like vanilla extract—you use so little that it’s negligible.”
Barrett agrees. “Just let people know there’s trace alcohol. Some care; some don’t. But even in mocktails, bitters can add flavor that nothing else does.”
From a small-batch curiosity to a national brand with Good Food Awards and Southern Living nods, Crude Bitters has helped define the Triangle’s evolving cocktail culture. And yet, they remain hands-on, experimental, and proudly independent.
“Bitters are just seasoning,” Rudewicz says. “They shouldn’t be intimidating. Try a drop in soda, in coffee, in your next margarita. You might discover something entirely new.”
With a growing fan base, nationwide orders, and plans for a soon-to-be-expanded Raleigh space, Crude Bitters isn’t just shaking up your drink—it’s raising the bar. Soon, their shop and tasting room will take on a new identity as The Bittery, while production continues at the current location. Stay tuned for what’s next in this bold new chapter.
