D.I.Y. Projects

I've slowly been getting back into some bitters making and other craft cocktail projects. Right now, I've got a batch of Pear Bitters going in the chunky mason jar; I managed to find some nice, ripe Bartlett pears to use in these, even though it's not yet pear season. I'm trying to get more pear flavor into this batch than I got into the one I did a couple of years ago. We'll see how that goes. The other mason jar has a hibiscus infusion (using the recipe in Martin Cate's excellent Smuggler's Cove book) that will eventually become a Crème de Hibiscus liqueur. I'm looking forward to playing around with that in place of Crème Yvette and Crème de Violette to make what may well be some perfectly vile concoctions. We'll see.

It may be crooked, but it's my cabinet.

To the right, you can a couple of bottles of Cilantro-Lime bitters that I made last month. Those things seem to work pretty well in gin-based drinks (and I imagine they'll go pretty well in Tequila and Mezcal cocktails) and I should look towards spreading some of them around among my friends. If you want some, let me know -- I have a limited supply.

As you can see, I have plenty of empty bottles waiting for other bitter, infusion, and tincture projects. I'm not sure what will be next, though I suspect it will be some fairly hot chili bitters for my version of the Chocolate Manhattan I've been working on. We'll see.