Bitters are both one of the most essential cocktail components and one of the most confusing. They are also one of the most fun to make from foraged ingredients. You can play around and experiment in a mad scientist, tasty chemistry project kind of way. But before you get started, please allow me to manage your expectations. You must understand that 100 percent foraged bitters will not taste the same as commercially manufactured bitters, for the simple reason that commercial bitters are based on extremely bitter components — gentian root, cinchona bark, or quassia root, for example — that most of us cannot forage for.
Though I cannot find any of those things where I live, I can forage for several common, plentiful, bitter ingredients that are easy to identify and locate. And while they may not be as bitter as the commercial ingredients, they are still worth using and produce very nice bitters.
Which raises the question, why should you use bitters? What do bitters do and how do they do it?
Don’t let the name throw you. While bitters may taste truly bitter on their own, in a cocktail they don’t take center stage. That doesn’t mean they’re not essential. You wouldn’t serve most food without a little salt, and bitters work a similar magic, pulling everything together, accenting a cocktail without stealing the show.
You’ll hear people toss around words like “complexity” and “balance” when discussing bitters. Adding bitters to a sweet drink doesn’t drastically change the flavor of the drink. It just mutes the sweetness ever so slightly, allowing other flavors to shine through. For example, without a few drops of bitters, the Ume No Hana is merely sweet and pleasant. Add bitters and you’ve got something complex and special. Why don’t you try it yourself? Do a side-by-side taste test with a familiar cocktail recipe that calls for bitters. Try one with and one without and you’ll see what I mean.
I was foraging on a rainy road trip in Denver when I smelled wild plum blossoms (ume no hana in Japanese) for the first time. The perfume was so intense that I knew it had to be captured in a cocktail.
When you’re foraging on the road you have to fly by the seat of your pants; I didn’t have much kitchen equipment with me back at the motel. Fortunately, the plum blossom flavor and perfume were strong enough to be captured in vodka alone. Many flowers benefit from a dual infusion process that uses sugar first. Rather than pass up the fragrant flowers, I went with what I had and filled a quart jar with clean flowers, then added vodka. No measuring, no recipe, just down-and-dirty booze infusion.
Two days later, when I got back to my kitchen, I opened the jar and was instantly transported right back to that rainy park. The scent and taste were amazing. I strained the liquid, measured it, and combined it with an equal amount of simple syrup to make the plum blossom liqueur.
Plum blossoms seem quintessentially Japanese, even when they’re in Denver. Sparkling sake was a natural choice to balance the sweetness of the liqueur, and the verjuice adds a whisper of acidity. Bitters are the finishing touch. Without them the cocktail is merely sweet and floral. With them it’s a glass full of wind, rain, and plum blossoms.
Combine the plum blossom liqueur and verjuice in a shaker full of ice and shake for 30 seconds. Strain into a rocks glass and top with the sparkling sake. Shake on 4 or 5 drops of bitters. (If you’re substituting commercial bitters, use only 1 or 2 drops.)
When we talk about making bitters, we use volume measurements (fluid ounces) for the liquid and weight measurements (ounces) for the solids. Yes, it’s a little weird, but that’s the industry standard. The ratio is 4:1 (alcohol:plant parts) for dried plants and 2:1 (alcohol:plant parts) for fresh or frozen. Remember, dried plant parts have more concentrated flavors because the water has been removed, so you’ll need less of them. Water and alcohol extract different flavors and compounds from plants, which is why we use both liquids.
Do you have to be so precise? No. You can just stuff a jar full of wild spicebush berries and pour vodka over them, but without taking careful measurements you won’t be able to reproduce your fabulous successes or avoid repeating your dismal failures. So let’s start with accurate measurements and you can always freestyle once you get comfortable.
Commercial bitters often have long lists of ingredients, but I suggest you start simple with your own bitters, to get a handle on what each ingredient brings to the party. Where and when you forage will define your ingredient choices. Start with one plant from each of the three primary categories (bitter, spice, and fruit) and decide whether you’ll be using the plant parts fresh or dried. (See Bitter Combinations, for some ideas to get you started.)
When composing a bitters recipe, at least half of the plant material you use should be bitter. If you’re starting with 1 cup of alcohol (and we’ll get to which alcohol in a minute), that’s 8 ounces, by volume, of liquid. That means you’ll need either 2 ounces total (by weight) of dried plant parts or 4 ounces total (by weight) of fresh. Of those plant parts, you’ll need either 1 ounce of dried bitter ingredients or 2 ounces of fresh bitter ingredients.
It’s perfectly alright to combine dried and fresh (or frozen) ingredients. Just remember that you’ll always use twice as much fresh as dried when building your bitters.
The remainder of the plant material should be split between a fruit and a spice. This can be divided evenly, or, if one ingredient has a stronger flavor than the other (a strong spice and a mild fruit, a mild spice and a strong fruit), you might use more of one and less of another to create a balanced bitters.
ABV is the abbreviation for alcohol by volume. The ABV of a spirit is one-half of its designated proof. For example, vodka that is 100 proof is 50 percent alcohol by volume.
Most bitters recipes suggest starting with a neutral grain spirit (like Everclear or vodka) so as not to interfere with the flavors of the plants. But spirits with more pronounced flavors (like rye or rum) also make wonderful bitters, adding their flavor profile to the final product.
Everclear 151 is my macerating alcohol of choice. It’s neutral in flavor, and because it has an ABV of 75 percent it simplifies the math. Commercial bitters are usually between 35 and 45 percent ABV. With Everclear 151, when it’s time to dilute your bitters to the appropriate ABV, just add an equal amount of water-based solution and there you are at 37.5 percent. If you’ve used a 100-proof spirit, you’ll have to do a little math. For every ounce of 100-proof alcohol, add a ounce of water-based solution. This will give you a final ABV of 40 percent.
Some mixologists build their bitters by infusing plants individually, then combining them into a final product. The reason for this is that different plants infuse at different strengths and speeds. Making individual infusions allows the mixologist to tinker with the balance with great precision. That being said, I prefer to infuse my foraged plants together, allowing them to develop a complexity of flavor that deepens over time. Feel free to play around as you get more comfortable with the process.
Okay, enough talk! Let’s make some bitters.
Put your plant parts in a glass jar, then pour in the base spirit. Seal tightly. Store the mixture out of direct light and give it a shake at least once a day. After 3 weeks, taste the spirit. If it’s strongly flavored, strain out the solids and set them aside. If the flavor is still weak, continue to macerate for another week.
Measure the strained alcohol solution and hold it in reserve. Measure out twice as much water as you have alcohol. Combine that water in a saucepan with the solids you strained from the alcohol. Bring this mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and let the liquid sit, covered, overnight.
The next morning, strain out and discard the solids. Measure the infused liquid, return it to the saucepan over medium heat, and for each c cup of liquid, add 1 teaspoon of sugar. Whisk to combine, then remove from the heat and let the liquid cool.
Combine your alcohol maceration and your water decoction in the proportions needed to bring the ABV to between 35 and 45 percent, as described previously. Taste the result. Remember, you’re not aiming for something that is palatable on its own. Straight bitters will be herbal, highly alcoholic, and, well, bitter. If you need a signpost, something to show you what you’re aiming for, try a drop or two of straight Angostura bitters. Your homemade batch won’t be as strongly bitter, but you’ll see what I mean about this being an unusual, not fully palatable flavor on its own. Bitters are meant to be used in conjunction with something else (a cocktail, a glass of seltzer) and should be composed with this future blending in mind. The magic is in the mixing.
After you’ve made your first foraged bitters, you’ll find yourself dreaming of different combinations. Each season and each place you forage offers up new flavors and new possibilities. Here are some combinations you might use as jumping-off points in your backyard bitters adventure, using different spirits as the base.
THE BITTER | THE SPICE | THE FRUIT |
dandelion root | sumac berries | silverberries |
barberry root | sassafras root | cornelian cherries |
juniper berries | lavender buds | crab apples |
California bay nuts | schisandra berries | flowering quince fruit |
THE BITTER | THE SPICE | THE FRUIT |
yellow dock root | wild ginger rhizomes | elderberries |
black walnut leaf | pequin chiles | chokeberries |
yarrow root | bee balm leaves | Juneberries |
THE BITTER | THE SPICE | THE FRUIT |
burdock root | spicebush berries | blackberries |
devil’s club root | licorice fern root | Oregon grapes |
mugwort root | pink peppercorns | Japanese knotweed stems |
If you’ve never tasted mezcal, try a sip before using it in cocktails. Like a heavily peated Scotch, mezcal has a distinctive flavor that tends to polarize drinkers. You love it or you hate it.
The agaves used in mezcal are grown in the same way blue agave is grown for tequila: the flowering stalk of the plant is cut off to divert growth into the central stalk, which then swells with sweet, juicy pulp. To make tequila, the central stalk is cooked with steam. Mezcal gets its smoky flavor from a unique cooking process: the juicy core of the agave is cooked underground, in ovens powered by wood charcoal. Some mezcal makers minimize the smokiness of their mescals, but for this recipe, I like a medium to strongly smoky spirit.
I’ve split the base spirit for this cocktail so the smoky mezcal doesn’t overwhelm the other flavors. You’ll still taste plenty of smoke, but the warm flavor of the reposado tequila adds mellow notes that balance the sharp mezcal. Both silverberry and sumac contribute acidity, and the acorn orgeat adds a touch of sweetness as well as an almost smoky bitter note that brings us full circle back to the mezcal. A dash of sumac bitters keeps the egg whites smelling fresh while they age. (See Using Egg Whites.)
Combine the mezcal, tequila, silverberry juice, acorn orgeat, and egg white in a shaker and dry-shake for 30 seconds. Add ice to the shaker and shake again for 30 seconds to thoroughly chill the cocktail. Strain into a rocks glass and top with the sumac soda and a few shakes of bitters.
The following wild plants make excellent bitters components. Many are available across the country and several are invasive or weedy plants that no one will mind you pulling up. If you’re not going to use your ingredients right away, you’ll need to preserve them. Dried ingredients should be stored in glass jars, out of direct sunlight. Frozen ingredients will last longer if they are frozen in a single layer on a cookie sheet, then transferred to ziplock or vacuum-sealed bags.
Barberry (Berberis thunbergii, B. vulgaris) is plentiful and easy to recognize. It has been declared invasive in 20 states, and the US National Park Service asks that no one plant this shrub because of its invasive nature. They suggest hand pulling young plants and using tools to remove larger, more established plants. Barberry roots are bright yellow and have a strong bitter flavor. The root is much easier to chop while fresh, so clean it, give it a rough chop into pieces about c inch long, then dry the pieces at 125 to 130°F (50–55°C) for as long as it takes for them to dry completely. (The dried root pieces should be brittle and not bendable.)
Black walnut (Juglans nigra) leaf is a relatively mild bitter ingredient with a pronounced tannic flavor, like that of black tea. Harvest the fresh leaves in late spring or early summer and dry them at 95°F (35°C) in a dehydrator.
Burdock (Arctium lappa) root can be tough to dig up because of its size and tenacity. Burdock roots are often more than 12 inches long; one root will give you more than you need for a batch of bitters. This is a relatively common weed, so you can harvest it without worrying about putting a dent in the burdock population. Burdock is a biennial, and the roots are biggest at the end of the first year’s growth, before the second year’s growth begins, so harvest in late fall or early spring. I suggest dehydrating them like barberry roots if you have the equipment, but freezing works, too.
California bay (Umbellularia californica) is only native to a small part of coastal Northern California and southern Oregon, but it’s worth making friends with someone from that area to ensure a regular supply of its nuts. While roasted nuts are great for baking, the shelled raw nuts make an interesting bitter infusion.
Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) root can be used fresh or dried, and since it’s a common (some might say pernicious) weed, this is something you can find easily. The roots are thickest and best in spring or fall, when they’re full of stored nutrition. Dig up the roots, scrub off the dirt, then decide how you’d like to preserve them. Dehydrate them like barberry roots, or freeze them.
Devil’s club (Oplopanax horridus) is considered a nuisance plant by some people and a valued medicinal by others. It’s a common understory plant in the Pacific Northwest and northern Rocky Mountains and most often grows in damp soils. It is seriously prickly, so watch out! The bitter root can be used fresh or dry.
Juniper (Juniperus spp.) berries are a traditional flavoring for gin, but when heavily concentrated, the flavor is intensely bitter. I suggest drying the fruits to preserve the harvest. Pick only dark purple/blue berries for the best flavor. Break up dried berries in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle. You want a rough grind, not a fine powder.
Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris) is a highly invasive weed, and both its roots and leaves are good bitters ingredients. The roots can be pulled, cleaned, chopped, and dried, then stored for future use. The leaves can be dried and used both as a bitters ingredient or as a cocktail flavoring (see Primitive Paloma).
Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) roots and leaves are mild bitters ingredients. Both can be used fresh or dried, although the flavor of the roots is more bitter than that of the leaves.
Yellow or curly dock (Rumex crispus) is a plentiful weed with a useful bitter root. Dig them and dry as you would burdock or dandelion. Bonus: the leaves are a tasty, tart wild green.
Bee balm (Monarda spp.) leaves and flowers make an excellent oregano substitute, although their flavor is slightly more delicate. Bee balm is a savory, warm spice for homemade bitters and can be used fresh or dry.
Lavender (Lavandula spp.) flower buds have the most flavor just before they open. Dry them for long-term storage.
Licorice fern (Polypodium glycyrrhiza) root has a strong licorice flavor and a little bit of natural sweetness. It’s delicious to chew on when it’s raw and juicy but should be dried for long-term storage.
Pequin chiles (Capsicum annuum var. glabriusculum) is native to central Texas and has spread to neighboring states. It is widely distributed by birds and often found growing wild. Don’t let the small size fool you; this is a hot pepper. Dry them for long-term storage.
Pink peppercorns (Schinus molle) aren’t true peppercorns, but they do have a similar flavor: spicy and sharp, without the heat of black pepper. Dry them for long-term storage.
Sassafras (Sassafras albidum) is a common tree in the eastern United States and once you’ve agreed that the USDA ban was unnecessary, it’s worth experimenting with its concentrated and complex flavor. The root is sweet and spicy. They can be dried or frozen for long-term storage.
Schisandra (Schisandra chinensis) is an ornamental garden vine with white or pink flowers and plentiful red berries. In China the berries are known as five-flavor fruit, and their taste is unique and complex. Dry the berries and use them whole.
Spicebush (Lindera benzoin) berries are the fruit of the spicebush shrub. Drying concentrates their flavor, which is often compared to that of allspice and black pepper, combined.
Sumac berries are tart and lemony and can be used whole in bitters. Many species of sumac produce tart fruit, including staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina), smooth sumac (R. glabra), and three-leaved sumac (R. trilobata). Don’t worry about mistaking edible sumac for poison sumac. Poison sumac is a rare plant, and its fruit hangs down in loose clusters of white berries. If your sumac has clusters of red fruit, you’re good to go. Sumac can be used fresh or dried for longer storage.
Wild ginger (Asarum canadense, A. caudatum) rhizomes have a darker flavor than tropical ginger but with a similar complexity and warmth. The strong taste holds its own in bitters. You may either freeze or dry the roots for long-term storage.
Blackberries (Rubus fruticosus) and other brambleberries can be used whole in bitters. Blackberries often have a stronger flavor than other bramble fruit, which makes them a good candidate for bitters, since they have to stand up to so many other intensely flavored ingredients. Freeze ripe berries to use later.
Chokeberries (Aronia melanocarpa, A. arbutifolia) are sour fruits and can be used whole, fresh, frozen, or dried. The dark fruits of A. melanocarpa will also add color to the bitters.
Cornelian cherries (Cornus canadensis) are intensely sour fruits that can be used whole, whether frozen or fresh, in bitters.
Crab apples (Malus spp.) range from tart to sour and add excellent flavor to homemade bitters. Roughly chop the fruit to expose more surface area to the base spirit during infusion. Crab apples should be frozen for long-term storage.
Elderberries (Sambucus spp.) can be used whole in bitters but remove the stems first; they may contain cyanogenic glycosides (toxic when consumed in large amounts), but don’t worry if a few small stems make it through. Elderberries also add a nice color to your infusion and can be used frozen or fresh.
Flowering quince (Chaenomeles japonica) fruit is extremely tart and fragrant. Roughly chop this fruit before adding it to your bitters maceration. You may use them fresh or frozen.
Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica) stems are tart and lemony. They can be used fresh or frozen and should be roughly chopped before being added to your bitters maceration.
Juneberries (Amelanchier spp.) are mild and sweet and can be used whole in your bitters mix. They work best frozen or fresh.
Oregon grapes (Mahonia aquifolium) are very sour with just an edge of sweetness. They can be used whole, whether frozen or fresh.
Silverberries (Elaeagnus umbellata) are sweet/tart and can be used whole, whether frozen or fresh. There’s no need to remove the seed when using the fruit in a maceration.