Lemon bitters

How to make your own lemon bitters

The easiest way to understand homemade bitter production is to think about it in terms of tea, Salazar says.
“You put herbs, roots, whatever in hot water, and after a while the water extracts the properties of whatever it was in,” he says. “Bitters are the same. We use alcohol — which is both an extractor and a preservative at the same time — and age it about a month.”
At the end of the day, it’s all about trial and error. Slight tweaks are magnified over time as the bitter ages and matures. This recipe is a good start.

Ingredients
  • 950 ml of high-proof grain alcohol like Everclear or Wray & Nephew overproof rum for a sweeter bitter
  • 10 lemons
  • 1 orange
  • 6 cardamom pods
  • 6 cloves
  • 1 stick of cinnamon
  • 1 stalk of lemongrass, chopped
  • 1/4 teaspoon coriander
  • 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon cinchona bark*
  • 1 tablespoon gentian root*
Directions
Cut the skin off eight of the lemons with a vegetable peeler, chop, and put in a Mason jar. Peel the other two lemons and the orange and dry the peels in the oven. Dried skins add sweeter, Fruity Pebble-esque notes.
Crack the cardamom pods and put them in the mason jar with the cloves, chopped lemongrass, coriander, white pepper, cinchona bark, cinnamon, and gentian root.
Fill the Mason jar with Everclear or Wray & Nephew. Put the cap on and shake. Store the jar in a dry place away from sunlight for four weeks, shaking it vigorously for 15 seconds every day.
Strain out the large pieces. The liquid will be slightly cloudy, which won’t negatively impact taste. For a more clear spirit, run it through a cheese cloth and then through a coffee filter.

https://vinepair.com/articles/bitters-need-home-bar-lemon-recipe/


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