Cricket bitters seek Kickstarter funding

Two US-based designers have launched a Kickstarter campaign to take their cocktail bitters range made from crickets to a wider audience.

Critter Bitters are currently only available on Kickstarter

Lucy Knops and Julia Plevin created Critter Bitters – cocktail bitters made with toasted crickets to add a “sweet, nutty note” to drinks.

The duo hopes to raise US$21,000 via the crowdfunding site, which will be used to refine and commercialise the recipe with help from professional mixologists and distillers, buy ingredients from the “best quality” manufacturing suppliers, develop packaging and labels, and ensure regulatory compliance with labels and shipping costs.

Critter Bitters currently comprises two flavours – Toasted Cricket Bitters and Pure Cricket Tincture.

According to the website, more than two billion people globally already eat insects on a regular basis, which is known as entomophagy.

“We found that our friends are psyched to have bugs in their booze. They’re more willing to try new things when it comes in a cocktail,” the Kickstarter site reads. “And mixologists, who tend to be super creative, are always on the hunt for new flavours.

“Up until this point, we’ve been making Critter Bitters in small batches at home. But there’s some serious demand for Critter Bitters.

“More than we could have ever imagined when we first made the prototype in grad school.

“In order to produce our first big run of Critter Bitters, we need some support.”

Critter Bitters are not the first brand to experiment with insects; the Cambridge Distillery and Nordic Food Lab created a gin made from red wood ants, called Anty Gin.