2. Dr. Hostteter’s Stomach Bitters

Photo by Chrysalis Archeological Consultants

Bitters go back to ancient Egypt, says Loorya, and they tend to have similar ingredients compared to those used today. Though they come in slender bottles now, they used to come in larger bottles like this one by Dr. Jacob Hostetter, based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, who produced a best-selling bitter that was a whopping 94 proof. Though it was intended as protection against various maladies that a pioneer explorer or Civil War soldier might catch, Dr. J. Hostetter’s bitters were not surprisingly also served as an actual drink ordered by the glass.

The team at Chrysalis made the bitters, infused over a two-week period, based on a recipe they found, and sought out all the natural ingredients, including Peruvian bark from local apothecaries and distributors online. Nonetheless, Loorya says, “I’m certainly not drinking it by the glass…but we gave out little bottles to people, and I’ve had friends who have used it in mixed drinks and they said it’s made the best Manhattans they’ve ever had.”

A portion of a poem from Hostetter’s United States Almanac from 1867, part of a million dollar advertising campaign by the company states:

For these, though Mineral nostrums fail,
Means of relief at last we hail,
HOSTETTER’S BITTERS medicine sure,
Not to prevent, alone, but cure.

Lauren Chu placed one of Hostetter’s bottles inside a new time capsule in the foundation of 50 Bowery. An 1826 time capsule was sealed on the site during the construction of the theater but was never found. “Clearly someone got to it before us,” says Loorya.