Bitters are having a viral moment, but rather than chewing on a celery stalk with a wry face while others douse themselves on the alcohol-based bitters bandwagon, I’m excited to introduce you to a zesty, alcohol-free contender. As a sober herbalist, I’ve come up with a powerful, sophisticated bitters blend that stands up to the hype, and possesses the celebrated digestive support and versatile uses like traditional bitters recipes.
Enter the humble herbal preparation of infused vinegar. Also known as an acetum, this liquid extract showcases intense bitter notes, salty asides, mineral alkalinity, floral aromatics, and, of course, sour salivary salutations. It’s as easy as stuffing a jar with good-quality, coarsely ground dried aromatic and bitter herbs and topping them with raw, fruity, unfiltered, unpasteurized organic apple cider vinegar (that’s the beauty of the “folk” method).
Famous traditional bitter recipes tend to be obscure mysteries sought after for their exclusivity and unpredictability. Herbal vinegar extracts have a similar impact since they manifest bitter profiles that break down the bitter category from a strict absolute to an obvious yet enigmatic range.
My first folk vinegar bitters were small-batch delights. A handful of horehound leaves, lavender buds, chive blossoms, rosemary, and stinging nettles yielded a mouthful of lasting herbaceous bitter tones with a soft, salty, and tart aromatic finish. Instead of performing a technically virtuosic herbal preparation involving ratios and measurements, I let nature’s abundant properties and processes lead me into a vast, accessible universe of flavors. My tummy approved, as much as my palate, and from then on I continued combining well-known bitter herbs like mugwort, dandelion root, and chamomile with other digestive friendlies like ginger, anise, and peppermint in haphazard amounts to great ends.
Bitter tastes aren’t elusive, they’re everywhere. Break open the spice cabinet and tea tins and you’ll find your own unique blend of premium herbs and spices to work with. Don’t be afraid to concoct a “house” bitters blend that characterizes your sacred ability to connect with nature’s supportive agents and your body's unique needs. At the same time, avoid getting caught up in the pronounced use of tangy vinegar—many people don’t know that in traditional modalities, the sour taste is often employed as a bitter would be, and is considered a close associate.
The sour bitter conjunction packs a digestive punch in service of the same ends—to enhance secretions, liquify phlegm, release clogging dampness, and thereby cleanse the channels for optimal absorption and flow. All this and you can make a memorable mocktail, too!
Mixologists and culinary superstars swear by the importance of beginning a creation with good ingredients. Vinegar possesses qualities of freshness, seasonality, and personality. Dried herbs and spices are nature’s epic sensory muses replete with energetic possibilities. The vitamins and minerals found in vinegar and herbs offer color, flavor, and enzymatic earthiness. Bitter constituents artfully bridge these active components together. The result isn’t cloying, it’s a dynamic arrangement of constituents seeking harmony in a temporal botanical bath. Acidic-rich vinegar dissolves, preserves, and gently urges more depth. The effect of this collaboration of ingredients and time offers bright bitter sweeps of flavor across the receptive tongue.
Unlike other aspects of life, this is the chance to celebrate inconsistency! And to welcome variation and surprise. Let yourself freely associate tastes from nature’s pantry to yours! Delight and learn. Taste and smell your way through the process, remembering that the forums of phytochemistry and energetics are in repartee with your own “mammalian skillset”. Flavor induces a bodily function: If something tastes bitter, bitter functions are engaged; if it tastes dry—it’s astringent and tonifying, and if it tastes spicy, it’s warming things up and prompting immune response and blood flow.
Take a few seconds to chew up a fennel seed and sense what’s happening in your body—the more time you take to engage the senses and follow your body’s cue towards the bitter showstopper of your dreams, the more you’ll finesse the process of creating vinegar bitters.
Want to get really creative? Put even more folk into the folk method by incorporating herbs connected with your ancestry or community. While visiting my Mexican-American family in Southern California, I threw together a boldo leaf, lemon verbena, orange peel, and artichoke leaf bitter. It was a stunningly blunt bitter that I used to spike a simple “ponche” (punch) of crab apples, guava, and cinnamon. The dash of bitters in our cultural holiday beverage honored my childhood memories of border culture and beaches while adding a modern twist.
Part of the challenge and empowerment of a sober lifestyle is building confidence by doing new things and having fun along the way. It may seem a little scattershot at first—like this folk herbal preparation—but given mindful attention, elegant patterns emerge from the chaos of our trying.
Directions
Pro-tip: Always taste your bitters on a regular basis as they do evolve. These extracts last a few years and will gently oxidize over time and become even more concentrated— I don’t mind this, I embrace it!
You may also enjoy
Herb-Infused Honeys + 2 Recipes
DY Herbal Electuaries + Recipes
How to Make Herb-Infused Vinegars
Topics: Recipes, Herbalism, Specialty Ingredients, Herbalist Corner
Drea Moore has been teaching “sober herbalism” at herb conferences, herb schools, wellness retreats, and recovery centers up and down the West Coast since 2018. She is passionate about amplifying the consciousness of sobriety, recovery, and substance abuse in all wellness spaces. Her knowledge of herbalism stems from lengthy studies at The California School of Herbal Studies (where she is also a guest teacher) and certifications in Ayurveda, yoga and bodywork. Her passions include using diverse art forms, design theories, and earth systems science to imagine new ways of approaching herbal medicine and integrative healing. Observe her in action teaching, gardening, and growing community on her website soberherbalist.com and her IG account @soberherbalist.
Bitters are having a viral moment, but rather than chewing on a celery stalk with a wry face while others douse themselves on the alcohol-based bitters bandwagon, I’m excited to introduce you to a zesty, alcohol-free contender. As a sober herbalist, I’ve come up with a powerful, sophisticated bitters blend that stands up to the hype, and possesses the celebrated digestive support and versatile uses like traditional bitters recipes.
Enter the humble herbal preparation of infused vinegar. Also known as an acetum, this liquid extract showcases intense bitter notes, salty asides, mineral alkalinity, floral aromatics, and, of course, sour salivary salutations. It’s as easy as stuffing a jar with good-quality, coarsely ground dried aromatic and bitter herbs and topping them with raw, fruity, unfiltered, unpasteurized organic apple cider vinegar (that’s the beauty of the “folk” method).
Famous traditional bitter recipes tend to be obscure mysteries sought after for their exclusivity and unpredictability. Herbal vinegar extracts have a similar impact since they manifest bitter profiles that break down the bitter category from a strict absolute to an obvious yet enigmatic range.
My first folk vinegar bitters were small-batch delights. A handful of horehound leaves, lavender buds, chive blossoms, rosemary, and stinging nettles yielded a mouthful of lasting herbaceous bitter tones with a soft, salty, and tart aromatic finish. Instead of performing a technically virtuosic herbal preparation involving ratios and measurements, I let nature’s abundant properties and processes lead me into a vast, accessible universe of flavors. My tummy approved, as much as my palate, and from then on I continued combining well-known bitter herbs like mugwort, dandelion root, and chamomile with other digestive friendlies like ginger, anise, and peppermint in haphazard amounts to great ends.
Bitter tastes aren’t elusive, they’re everywhere. Break open the spice cabinet and tea tins and you’ll find your own unique blend of premium herbs and spices to work with. Don’t be afraid to concoct a “house” bitters blend that characterizes your sacred ability to connect with nature’s supportive agents and your body's unique needs. At the same time, avoid getting caught up in the pronounced use of tangy vinegar—many people don’t know that in traditional modalities, the sour taste is often employed as a bitter would be, and is considered a close associate.
The sour bitter conjunction packs a digestive punch in service of the same ends—to enhance secretions, liquify phlegm, release clogging dampness, and thereby cleanse the channels for optimal absorption and flow. All this and you can make a memorable mocktail, too!
Mixologists and culinary superstars swear by the importance of beginning a creation with good ingredients. Vinegar possesses qualities of freshness, seasonality, and personality. Dried herbs and spices are nature’s epic sensory muses replete with energetic possibilities. The vitamins and minerals found in vinegar and herbs offer color, flavor, and enzymatic earthiness. Bitter constituents artfully bridge these active components together. The result isn’t cloying, it’s a dynamic arrangement of constituents seeking harmony in a temporal botanical bath. Acidic-rich vinegar dissolves, preserves, and gently urges more depth. The effect of this collaboration of ingredients and time offers bright bitter sweeps of flavor across the receptive tongue.
Unlike other aspects of life, this is the chance to celebrate inconsistency! And to welcome variation and surprise. Let yourself freely associate tastes from nature’s pantry to yours! Delight and learn. Taste and smell your way through the process, remembering that the forums of phytochemistry and energetics are in repartee with your own “mammalian skillset”. Flavor induces a bodily function: If something tastes bitter, bitter functions are engaged; if it tastes dry—it’s astringent and tonifying, and if it tastes spicy, it’s warming things up and prompting immune response and blood flow.
Take a few seconds to chew up a fennel seed and sense what’s happening in your body—the more time you take to engage the senses and follow your body’s cue towards the bitter showstopper of your dreams, the more you’ll finesse the process of creating vinegar bitters.
Want to get really creative? Put even more folk into the folk method by incorporating herbs connected with your ancestry or community. While visiting my Mexican-American family in Southern California, I threw together a boldo leaf, lemon verbena, orange peel, and artichoke leaf bitter. It was a stunningly blunt bitter that I used to spike a simple “ponche” (punch) of crab apples, guava, and cinnamon. The dash of bitters in our cultural holiday beverage honored my childhood memories of border culture and beaches while adding a modern twist.
Part of the challenge and empowerment of a sober lifestyle is building confidence by doing new things and having fun along the way. It may seem a little scattershot at first—like this folk herbal preparation—but given mindful attention, elegant patterns emerge from the chaos of our trying.
Directions
Pro-tip: Always taste your bitters on a regular basis as they do evolve. These extracts last a few years and will gently oxidize over time and become even more concentrated— I don’t mind this, I embrace it!
You may also enjoy
Herb-Infused Honeys + 2 Recipes
DY Herbal Electuaries + Recipes
How to Make Herb-Infused Vinegars
Topics: Recipes, Herbalism, Specialty Ingredients, Herbalist Corner
Drea Moore has been teaching “sober herbalism” at herb conferences, herb schools, wellness retreats, and recovery centers up and down the West Coast since 2018. She is passionate about amplifying the consciousness of sobriety, recovery, and substance abuse in all wellness spaces. Her knowledge of herbalism stems from lengthy studies at The California School of Herbal Studies (where she is also a guest teacher) and certifications in Ayurveda, yoga and bodywork. Her passions include using diverse art forms, design theories, and earth systems science to imagine new ways of approaching herbal medicine and integrative healing. Observe her in action teaching, gardening, and growing community on her website soberherbalist.com and her IG account @soberherbalist.
