DIY Cocktail Bitters

Hands down, bitters are my favorite way to add super concentrated flavor to a cocktail. All you need are a few shakes to transform a regular drink into something more polished. More recently bitters have gone way outside the classic Angostura or Peychaud's*. There are so many interesting and awesome flavors/flavor blends available. They can be a little hard to get your hands on though, often necessitating buying online. That can also make them expensive. Today let’s try something that should be a little easier and cheaper. Though it does involve some waiting!

I made five different types of bitters. I stuck with easy one-two ingredient combinations of ingredients I had available or could find at a health food store. The base for the bitters will be Everclear. Any high proof flavorless grain alcohol will work. I bought these 5oz bitters bottles online, but these could go in any bottle or dropper you have. I recommend glass, plastic could degrade over time with the high alcohol level. I started my bitters in 8oz mason jars. Make sure to label your container with the date you started on and write your formula down somewhere. Store these at room temp and out of direct sun while they infuse.

BITTERS FORMULATIONS

Clove Bitters

4 ounces Everclear

2 tbsp whole cloves

Earl Grey + Citron Bitters

4 ounces Everclear

5 Strips citron peel

2 tbsp loose earl grey tea

Rosemary + Juniper Bitters

4 ounces Everclear

leaves from 1 rosemary stem

1 tbsp dried juniper berries

Cardamom Bitters

4 ounces Everclear

2 tbsp whole cardamom pods, cracked open

Pink Peppercorn Bitters

4 ounces Everclear

2 tbsp pink peppercorns

INFUSE TIMES
Clove	4 Weeks
Earl Grey + Citron	3 Weeks
Rosemary + Juniper	1 Week
Cardamom	10 Weeks
Pink Peppercorns	8 Weeks

The first flavor I picked was clove. I’ve made a clove infusion before and I know it works. It is great for adding a warm spice to drinks and works for baked goods too.

Measure out 4oz of Everclear. Add two tablespoons of whole cloves. Add the top, label with the date and the ingredients. Literally that easy.

I found this citron around the holidays at Whole Foods. You could sub some lemons though since I think Citrons are out of season! 

Use a vegetable peeler to peel off a few pieces of rind.

I used two tablespoons of this White Tip Earl Grey, I drink it every day. After the first two days I fished the citron peel out. Citrus infuses quickly and to good effect. I didn’t want it to be the only flavor.

The only one with fresh ingredients is the rosemary juniper blend. I have not had good luck infusing fresh herbs in alcohol so I was a little nervous about this one, but it worked! This combination takes the least time to make.

I used 1 stalk of fresh rosemary (washed and dried) and 1 tablespoon of dried juniper berries.

I found whole cardamom pods in bulk at Sprouts. They are available online as well, or in a local Middle Eastern grocery.

I bashed the pods a few times in my mortar to break them open. Don’t turn them to dust.

I’ve purchased cardamom bitters before, so I am interested to see how the homemade ones hold up against the more professional version. I let the cardamom bitters infuse for a very long time. They probably didn’t need to infuse quite so long, but I wanted to make sure they were really strong.

Finally, the one I am most excited about! Pink Peppercorns. I have had a few drinks with pink peppercorn bitters and loved them. These are more citrus/floral and light than black peppercorns. I am pretty obsessed with them on food, why not in drinks!

These will float at first, but eventually they will all sink.

I finished each bitters the same way. You’ll need to strain the solids out of the liquid and add a little filtered water to bring the ABV down. I didn’t bother to bring down the ABV much since no one is drinking these straight. A few dashes is all the average person uses in a drink. If you want to use more you should dilute these further. Here is the handy calculator I used.

TOOLS

Fine mesh strainer

Coffee filters

Filtered water

Storage bottles

Strain the solids out with a fine mesh strainer and discard.

Next add 1 ounce of filtered water to the strained bitters.

The mixture will turn cloudy.

Strain again through a coffee filter. I had a small amount of sediment in all of my formulations.

Bottle and label.

And there you have it! These should be shelf stable for quite a long time, over a year based on the alcohol content. I will follow up with at least one application for each bitters formulation. So stay tuned!

*Both classics for a reason, I recommend these as “starters” if you are new to bitters!