More Notes on Cocktails.

I haven’t until recently understood bitters.  In fact, I’ve enjoyed them in the past few months without so much as looking into what exactly they are until this very moment.  They’re alcoholic digestifs flavored with herbal essences.  What I take away from this and my experiences is that they are a cocktails perfume.   

Last week I discovered a small cupboard in the back of my local spirits shop (calling it a liquor store would being doing a great disservice to its atmosphere and sophistication), that placed bottles of bitters in each cubby hole like tiny treasures and keepsakes.  I was enthralled, as girls often are with small, cute things.  I picked them up. I studied them. I read the ingredients.  I marveled at the variety.  Yes, there were your usuals of orange, lime, grape, what-fruit-have-you, but there were also borderline insane ones such as Jamaican Jerk, Thai Chili and Curry.  I immediately wanted to bite off more than I could chew by having my first bitters experiment be with the curry, but Toph talked me off of that ledge and I settled on Lavender. 

My first experiment went surprisingly well.  I mixed 1 tbsp of home-infused rosemary gin, 2 tbsp of Hendricks gin, the juice of half a lemon, agave nectar to taste and a couple dashes of lavender bitters with seltzer and old fashioned ice cubes.  It was delish.  The tartness of the lemon played well off of the smokeyness of the rosemary and floral notes of the gin and lavender bitters, and the agave gave it that sweetness it needed to take the edge off of its savory bass notes. 

Last night I popped into the same shop on my way home from a bike ride, intending to pick up a bottle of white to end my weekend with, but again, found myself at the bitters cupboard, marveling like a small child.  Toph may have stroked my ego too much with his praise on my first bitters experiment, because I walked out not only with the intended bottle of white, but also with Curry and Cardamom bitters to play with.  And thus, my home bar became a much more tempting playground.  Of course, I will keep you all abreast of anything noteworthy I come up with, because if life is too short for boring cocktails, it is immoral to withhold the interesting ones from the public.  Happy mixing, everyone!