GUD BLOG: SINGLE POST
Embittered
Exhausted but looking for something other than episodes of Buffy to bring fun to an otherwise dreary, rainy day, I rather spontaneously decided to read up on making cocktail bitters. Bartending guru Jamie Boudreau posted a blog article on making bitters about two years ago. In particular, his recipe was for cherry bitters. Having never tried my hand at this before, I opted to try something along those lines.
So into an old kombucha bottle (thoroughly cleaned, obviously) went about 8 ounces of bourbon and a bunch of tart, dried cherries. In another bottle, I combined a mix of dried black walnut leaf, dandelion, hawthorn, fennel, milk thistle, and burdock — in total about a tablespoon of crushed, dried herbs — with 4 ounces of rye. In yet another, I mixed 8 more ounces of rye with additional walnut leaf and milk thistle with cracked allspice, 5 or 6 whole cloves, a bit of vanilla extract, and a big chunk of cinnamon, cracked up into a couple chunks. In a final bottle, I combined the zest of one lemon with 4 ounces of vodka.
Per Boudreau’s instructions, I’ll be moving the heavily concentrated herb mix out first — after about 5 days of exposure, most likely. Then after another 5 days, the other herbs and lemon. Then after another week, the cherries. My total time is going to be less since I’m using a slightly higher concentration of herbs in less liquid. (Also because I’m impatient.) From there, my steps will be largely the same as Boudreau’s — diluting, aging, and bottling.
I’ll give them a taste as I combine them and will write an update then as well as when they’re finally ready. More over the coming months…
* * * * *
On a related note, I bought some peach bitters on a whim last week. I made a drink called a Royalist, which apparently uses dry vermouth but which I’ve also found recipes that call for sweet vermouth. I decided to try sweet given the other ingredients, so perhaps this is no longer really a Royalist. Whatever it was, it was a little sweet but very rich in terms of fruit, caramel, and herbal flavors.
1.5 oz bourbon
3/4 oz Dolin sweet vermouth
3/4 oz Benedictine
2 hefty dashes of peach bitters
2010.06.10 Evan Hansen at 2:32 am
This entry was posted in GUD Blog and tagged bourbon, cocktails, vermouth. Bookmark the permalink.
One Response to Embittered
I'll agree with the rich flavors brought about from the Royalist (with the sweet vermouth). This drink definitely caught my attention after the first sip. What I really enjoyed was the bourbon flavor (perhaps because i'm a huge fan of bourbon). Whatever the reason, the Royalist ended up being a reasonable drink. On another note, if you like bourbon as much as I do, you'll surely enjoy a new drink I was introduced to. It's polar opposite to a sweet drink. This cocktail is called Gold Rush. It is a spicy, ginger flavored, bourbon drink. It's not your typical Gold Rush. This cocktail was made with Domaine de Canton. A ginger liqueur I was never aware of. I will tell you one thing, i'm glad I was introduced to it. It's turned the original Gold Rush cocktail into something new and exciting. Every time I ask for a Gold Rush cocktail, I make sure it's made with Domaine de Canton. I would recommend anyone to try it out. The recipe is as follows…
1 1/2 parts Domaine de Canton
1 part Maker's Mark Bourbon
1/2 freshly squeezed lemon juice
shake, strain, and enjoy!