Peychaud’s Bitters were created in New Orleans in the early 1800’s by  Antoine Amedie Peychaud, a Creole apothecary, who created them as a tonic for whatever ailed his clientele. In 1838, he used them in an Old Fashioned and the drink became one of the (or, perhaps, “the”) first branded cocktail(s). Peychaud’s Bitters have a rich red color, anise flavor and a bitterness that comes from the root of the gentian plant, a flower that grows in temperate alpine habitats.