Släckdrünk Basics — Bitters!

Vizzini: Iocane comes from Australia, as everyone knows! And Australia is entirely peopled with criminals. And criminals are used to having people not trust them, as you are not trusted by me, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of you….
Man in Black: What’s so funny?
Vizzini: I — I’ll tell you in a minute. First, let’s drink. Me from my glass, and you from yours.
(The Princess Bride, the movie)

Iocane powder is useless as a cocktail ingredient. It’s deadly. And has no flavor. Instead, we’re going to introduce a simple and powerful addition to your home cocktail repertoire — bitters! What makes an Old Fashioned something more than just sweetened bourbon? Bitters! A dash of bitters in a cocktail or a glass of seltzer water is a simple joy. And we need simple joys these days.

Bitters/tinctures

Bitters and tinctures are alcohol-based flavoring agents created by soaking citrus, spices, and/or herbs in neutral grain spirits. Some of the most familiar ready-made commercial bitters are Angostura, Peychaud’s, and Regan’s Orange. All of these are worth having on hand. They will pretty much last forever if kept in a cool dark place.

Generally speaking, a cocktail tincture is the essence of a single flavoring agent while bitters are often blends. During the citrus season, I make a variety of tinctures, soaking exotic citrus like Bergamot and Seville oranges to create drops of happiness which flavor my future cocktails. Being Portlandians, my good friend and I took a bitters-making class last winter at OMSI and went crazy mixing dozens of tinctures that were available for blending.

But to get started, let’s keep it simple and small. All you need is some vodka or Everclear, some flavoring agents, a jar with a lid, and a small amount of patience. Put them all together, binge watch a few episodes of your favorite show, and voilà, you have hand-crafted secret ingredients for sustained #bunkermixology. Unless you make a lot of cocktails or are really sweet on bitters, you don’t need to make a big batch. After all, we’re all hoping we can return to our favorite bar before too long.

Lemon/herb bitters (for The Hand Sanitizer, et. al.)

2 ounces of neutral grain spirits

1 tablespoon of fresh rosemary

Peels from one well-rinsed lemon

Rosemary is a popular herb and shrub that is both functional and attractive. It has distinctive pine/fir-shaped leaves on long woody branches. We have several bushes growing in our yard. As I’m writing this, it’s blossoming and an occasional honeybee keeps me company. If you don’t have any in your yard, you have two options. Source some from the supermarket or just take a stroll around the neighborhood. This hardy evergreen herb is likely growing somewhere nearby. If you think it’s rosemary, you can quickly check by lightly grasping a branch and carefully pulling it back so the needle-shaped leaves brush your palm. Smell your hand. If it smells like rosemary, you’ve got a winner. Break off a small branch as that’s all you’ll need. If you’re really in a bunker and only have dried rosemary, you can give it a spin. But I won’t be responsible for the outcomes. It might work. Or you might get iocane.

1. Find a small clean jar with a lid. A top is important to keep the alcohol from evaporating.
2. Rinse both the rosemary and citrus well with water and dry them.
3. Pluck enough of the pine-shaped leaves from the rosemary branch to get about a tablespoon of the herb. Create a small pile on your work surface. Unless you want an onslaught of rosemary flavor (you don’t), avoid chopping the leaves. Instead, bruise them by rapping them under the flat side of a metal spatula or similar. This will liberate some, but not all of the volatile oils in the leaves.
4. With a vegetable peeler, carefully peel the skin from a lemon. The white pith will increase bitterness. Don’t worry if you get some of the white as it’s desirable, but try to ensure your peels are mostly the aromatic skin.
5. Put 2 ounces of spirits in the jar along with the bruised rosemary and lemon peel. Secure the top and give the mixture a swirl.
6. Leave the mixture for at least 4 hours and no more than 24. You can check it periodically by dabbing a bit on the back of your hand and tasting it. It should have a nice citrus and herb aroma and flavor.
7. When you’re ready and/or thirsty, strain the solids out of the mixture using a strainer or funnel and discard.
8. You now have simple bitters! Label them with type and date and store them in a cool, dark location.
9. If you don’t have a dropper, use a straw (paper or reusable, of course) to capture some of the bitters by putting the straw into the liquid, putting a finger on the end of the straw, and then releasing the bitters into your shaker by removing your finger.

Variations and guidelines

You can easily geek out on tinctures and bitters, limited only by your imagination, vodka stash, and number of jars.

Time — most tinctures will pull the necessary aromatics and flavors from their sources within 24–48 hours. I find that the longer it steeps, the more bitter the tincture becomes.

Spirits — neutral spirits are just that, neutral. But if you love rum or brandy, you can certainly make a tincture or bitters using these liquors.

Flavors — pretty much anything you get from the produce section or spice cabinet can be made into a tincture. If you choose to forage in your garden, make sure you know what you’re picking and that it’s not going to make you dead.

Citrus is my go-to for making tinctures. Lemons are great. Both standard and Meyer varieties are delicious. Grapefruit bitters are outstanding. Orange bitters are also great to have on hand. If you can find something more interesting than generic navel oranges, go for it. I’ve made tinctures from mandarins, Seville oranges, and even kumquats. I’m not a huge fan of lime bitters. But if that’s what you have, give it a try. It’s important to rinse and scrub the citrus well, particularly if they are not organic.

Herbs and spices are also fun. Cinnamon sticks, peppercorns, star anise, and cloves are likely to be found in your spice cabinet. Cloves and peppercorns make a very strong and dominant tincture. Use them sparingly. They taste and smell great. And they will dominate the conversation.