Fee Brothers

Rochester, New York has been home to Fee Brothers since 1864, and the Fee family still runs the bitters and syrup maker there.

About Fee Brothers

Based in
Rochester, New York
Founded
1864
Known for
cocktail bitters, cordial syrups and mixers

Four brothers, James, Owen, John and Joseph Fee, founded the company in Rochester in 1864. The family had come from County Monaghan, Ireland, and opened a butcher shop in the city in 1847. The company's branding has long said 1863, a date taken from a family limerick, but the founding year was 1864.

Prohibition shaped the business. The Fees sold sacramental wine, home wine kits and cordial syrups, and they made their first bitters, an orange bitters, in those years. Later generations added flavors: Jack Fee created an aromatic bitters in the mid-1950s, and his daughter Ellen added citrus bitters in 1994. Joe and Ellen, the fourth generation, took over in 2012, and in 2021 Ellen sold the company to her nephews, Jon Spacher and Benn Fee Spacher, the fifth generation.

A few dashes go a long way. Depending on the flavor, bitters belong in an Old Fashioned or Manhattan, a martini, a Bloody Mary or a gin and tonic.

Fee Brothers questions

What are cocktail bitters, and how do you use them?

Bitters are concentrated flavorings made from bitter herbs, roots, seeds, peels or fruit, often in an alcohol base. A few dashes add a bitter, aromatic note that gives a drink more depth and complexity. Add them a dash at a time and taste as you go.

What was Prohibition?

Prohibition was the period from 1920 to 1933 when the United States banned the making, importing, transporting and selling of alcoholic drinks. Companies built around the drinks trade had to find other things to sell or close. Fee Brothers got through by selling home wine kits and cordial syrups, and it made its first bitters, an orange bitters, during those years.

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