While every cocktail ingredient brings something unique to a drink’s flavor, few components are as potent as bitters. At one time, these highly concentrated herbal flavoring agents were thought to have medicinal properties, but while they might not do much for your health, a few drops can still radically alter a cocktail. I’ve been making bitters for several months now, and the process isn’t all that labor intensive. It just takes a little patience.
First, place your desired flavoring agents in a sealed jar with two cups of overproof spirit (more than 50% ABV) and shake the jar daily. If you’re unsure where to start, there are plenty of great recipes out there you can try before you start making your own.
After two or three weeks, strain out the liquid into a separate jar, boil the remaining solid matter in a cup of water, and then put the water and solid matter into their own separate jar to age for another week or so.
Once that week is up, strain out and discard your solids, pour the flavored water in with the flavored spirit, and add whatever sweetener you’re using (molasses, simple syrup, etc.).
Let it sit for a few days so any last solid bits separate out (straining again if necessary), and then you’re ready to bottle the bitters or just keep them in a jar proudly displayed on your bar.
Sure, this may seem like a lot of steps, but they’re spread out across a month, and you can always wait longer on any of them if you’re busy. Just make sure you’re continually tasting them to make sure they’re heading in the right direction; the flavor will change radically over time, and it can be tweaked throughout the process.
I think my favorite aspect of bitters is the transformation involved. Using dried herbs, fruit, peppers, and whatever else you’d like, you can create incredible flavor combinations, and because the bitters are so potent, a few drops here and there can completely change the flavor of a drink. A transformation occurs in the bitters themselves, enabling them to transform others, but all of it still takes time.
Call me cheesy, but bitters make me think of the gospel: something small that sparks an internal change, grows within us over time, and alters the world around us. While Christians focus heavily on how Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection erase sin and reconcile us to God, we sometimes gloss over the critical transformation part. Being in relationship with God means learning to see the world through more loving eyes, but this transformation isn’t instantaneous.
We have to sit with God.
We have to be shaken.
We have to absorb the flavor of God.
We have to open ourselves to new possibilities.
And all of that takes time, but it’s worth it.
Also, for the record, my current favorite bitters right now are Bad Baptist Bitters: Cocoa Peccadillo, which involve soaking ancho chile, cocoa nibs, cassia wood, orange peel, coffee beans, dried strawberries, and black peppercorn in Overholt Bonded Rye before sweetening with brown sugar. Amounts are all to taste.