bitters

’Tis that time of year.  You know…  When all of your best intentions about not scarfing down mass quantities of holiday delectables go out the door.  What to do when you’re at a holiday gathering and your belly is starting to bloat like a hot air balloon, but you forgot to wear stretchy pants?  Well, if you planned ahead, you take out your little brown bottle of digestive herbs.

Bitters hold their history in old European herbal medicinal traditions and used to serve the same purposes that tinctures do today. Tinctures are herbal extractions made by steeping dried or fresh herbs in a highly pure form of alcohol. Any part of the plant can be used to make tinctures, although some parts may render different effects than others. Commercial processes use ethyl alcohol, but for home crafted tinctures, 100 proof vodka is the best choice.