House of Angostura

House of Angostura

Angostura 1919 Rum
Type	Rum, bitters
Country of origin	Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
Introduced	Around 1830

The House of Angostura (English pronunciation: /æŋɡəˈstjʊərə/), also known as Angostura Limited, is a Trinidad and Tobago company famous for the production of Angostura bitters, invented by the company's founder. The company is also a distiller and is the major producer of rum in Trinidad and Tobago. The company also has been used as a vehicle for international expansion by its parent company, CL Financial. As a result of these acquisitions, the company owns distillers in the United States, Canada, The Bahamas and Suriname.

The company was founded around 1830 in the Venezuelan town of Angostura (now Ciudad Bolívar) by a German doctor, Johann Gottlieb Benjamin Siegert, Surgeon-General in Simon Bolivar's army in Venezuela. Around 1820 he had tried to find a medicine to improve appetite and digestive well-being of the soldiers.

In 1830, Siegert exported his unique aromatic bitters to England and Trinidad. By 1850, he had resigned his commission in the Venezuelan army to concentrate on the manufacture of his bitters, since by then demand had leapt ahead of supply. In 1862 the product was exhibited and sampled in London, to great approval. Upon his death in 1870, Siegert left the care of the company to his younger brother and son, who subsequently moved it to Port of Spain, Trinidad six years later in 1876.