Bitter me this, bitter me that

(The first exposure of all things bitters.)

There comes a point in every passion driven hobby (or activity... profession), where the hobbiest decides to start getting crafty. What I mean to say is, that the inevitable consequence of the passion, is to take the next step toward being a craftsman (or craftsperson!)

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My first foray into taking things to the next level, was to start making my own specialty simple syrups, which I'd even considered trying to market as a salable product. While that's still an idea to be had, I moved on to investing in a nice collection of aromatic bitters, which I'd bought from a personal favorite rare tea shop right here in Vancouver. Though, my co-workers at first seemed perplexed when I'd told them how much money I'd spent on bitters, it seemed to me (and still seems) that it was a worthwhile investment.

(Pictured left to right. Dandelion leaves, coffee, black currants, and a lot of crazy sh--.)

Somewhere along the way, I'd wondered about making my own bitters. Though, until I came across the unassumingly named Bitters, by Brad Thomas Parsons, the thought merely came in passing. The book's title just happened to catch my eye as I was browsing the 'beverage' stand in the food section at Chapters. The episode of revelation went sort of like, "Oh, hey, a book about bitters! I'd love to make bitters!" And the rest was point of purchase history.

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I found the Hogwartsian names of ingredients compelling. Hyssop. Devil's club root. Quassia chips. Wormwood. These were surely the things of a hokey witch's brew. Yet surely, I was hooked. The conspicuous names were categorized under catalogues of bittering agents, and flavouring agents. That is to say, things that made your potion bitter, or aromatic. While I've yet to actually make, or even begin making any bitters, the quest I went on to gather some of these rare agents was gratifying enough on it's own. I found myself hiking the urban landscape of Chinatown, and the West End, visiting bird's nest shops, the Asian grocer, the Persian supermarket, and finally the standard grocery store, where I found the more common items such as oranges, and coffee beans - though I admit, dandelion leaves were on sale at Safeway.

(Soda water and Angostura bitters, with a slice of orange. Not bad!)

As for the status of my project.... Well, it's simple at that, remaining a work in progress. Being that the whole process will take three weeks, I've got quite a wait ahead of me, before I can report the detailed findings of my project. But to you, the reader, I leave you with these parting words: take your passion to the next step. Find the same drive that I found; if you're a bartender, do as I do, and take the product of your passion into your own hands.