Discover herbal bitters with DIY recipes (2024)

FAQs

How do you use herbal bitters? ›

Bitters are very potent, and dosing and frequency will vary on what you're using them for. But often a few drops will do. You can take them internally either by placing a few drops from a tincture on the tongue or diluting with another liquid, such as sparkling water or in co*cktails.

For thousands of years, our ancient ancestors foraged bitter herbs like dandelion, chamomile and milk thistle to support digestion and to treat ailments such as bloating, nausea and heartburn.

Digestive bitters might act on bitter receptors in parts of the digestive system that make your body release gut hormones that make you feel full. ‌Helps you make more saliva. Your saliva has enzymes that help you start to break down your food. Bitters can help you make more saliva, which could help with digestion.

Since bitters help prepare the digestive tract to digest food, they are best taken about 15 minutes before a meal, although taking them with or just after eating can still be helpful if you forget to take them ahead of time.

Because of the gut-brain connection, not only can bitters enhance digestion, but they can reduce depression and improve mood. They also support your liver's natural detoxification processes, and thus can improve skin health.

However, consuming bitters when you don't have digestive issues may actually lead to digestive problems. This includes acid reflux, nausea and an upset stomach. So digestive bitters shouldn't be casually added to your daily routine if you don't need any relief from digestive distress.

Maror (Hebrew: מָרוֹר mārôr) are the bitter herbs eaten at the Passover Seder in keeping with the biblical commandment "with bitter herbs they shall eat it." (Exodus 12:8).

“Some people have gastrointestinal issues due to the fact that they don't have enough stomach acid. In these cases, bitters can help create some of that extra juice to help break down food,” Czerwony says. “They increase the amount of gastric juices in your stomach, which ultimately helps with digestion.”

A few dashes won't even get you buzzed, but as many an enterprising alcoholic can tell you, a standard bottle of bitters is the same as nearly 3 shots of whiskey. That dasher cap comes off pretty easily! Just because you're "not supposed to" drink bitters straight doesn't mean you can't.

Are bitters anti inflammatory? ›

Bitter foods are generally recognized as anti-inflammatory agents in traditional Chinese medicine.

Bitters With Benefits. Before they became a co*cktail ingredient, bitters were taken as a daily tonic, meant to aid digestion and other ailments. Today, co*cktail bitters are generally produced without significant health benefits in mind—they're designed purely to flavor co*cktails.

Emerging evidence suggests that bitter foods, such as apple cider vinegar, ginger and leafy greens, can be seriously good for our gut health. And most of us are a few centuries late to the game.

Bitters are a great first step to help bloating, gas , low stomach acid levels, protein breakdown, fat absorption, and even constipation ,” says Zellner.

Adding bitters to your day is easy – simply take 1-1.5 ml (30-45 drops) 3 times daily, in a little water, on an empty stomach. Take 15-60 minutes before meals, after a heavy meal, or when discomfort occurs.

co*cktail bitters are more concentrated than digestive bitters and have extraordinarily strong flavors. Subsequently, bartenders add co*cktail bitters in small amounts to their drink recipes and never serve them to customers straight.

Bitters can be used to bring a little life to any drink. Try a few dashes of Cardamom bitters in your coffee, especially if it's iced, or in tea. Perk up your ginger ale with a few dashes of Aromatic bitters. Even fruit juice and/or soda water can be livened up with bitters.

▸How many drops/dashes of bitters should I use in a drink? When creating our own co*cktails we always start with 2 dashes, or in our case 20-24 drops, of bitters for a co*cktail 6 oz or larger and then increase or decrease as we see fit.

“By adding a bitter component to other balanced ingredients, something magical happens. The co*cktail dries out ever so slightly, the nuances of flavor bloom within the other elements. Finally, the drink tastes like a complete flavor, rather than a stop-and-start mix of components.”