Nectarine Bitters Recipe
Bitter, the last thing that most humans want to hear, especially children. We are hardwired to avoid foods that taste bitter as a survival mechanism. Last thing you want to do is eat an uncooked potato or some green that has a little too much toxin in it. For many plants the bitterness is a form of protection. They want to live to produce seeds and if their leaves are super taste and crunchy and delicious then they get eaten up. However , if they are under a bit of stress from wind and sun and insects they produce phytochemicals to help protect themselves and to us that tastes bitter.
A little bit of bitter flavor can be quite beneficial for the human digestive tract. When you ingest something that’s bitter it triggers a series of reactions right from the moment it touches your tongue. Have you ever noticed when you taste something bitter how your mouth waters? That your body signaling to the liver that it needs to produce more bile to get ready to digest something with a bit more intensity than say a nice yummy nectarine. Your digestive system wakes up and starts getting ready to deal with those bitter phytochemicals.
That being said over the millennia we have figured out how to use those bitter plants to help keep us healthy. One of the more pleasant ways is by making bitters, a mix of bitter plants or roots, something sweet and alcohol. A bitter is typically take 30 minutes before eating to wake up your digestive system. Take with a bit of water it’s quiet lovely. And some people have turned them into mixed drinks which is fun and delicious but I on the fence about how medicinally beneficial that is.
alcohol being poured into a mason jar full of bitter herbs and necatrine
What I have for you today is my recipe for Nectarine Bitters. This is super tasty and kind of hard not to make a mixed drink from it. So what’s in it? Firstly, nectarines. That’s the sweet element that adds a delicious summer kick to the this digestive aid. The bitters are yellow dock root, sage leaf and yarrow leaf and flowers. Yellow dock is the most bitter of the three. It’s definitely not one of those herbs you want to take by itself unless you are really good at just powering through bitter flavors. Sage is a more mild digestive herb that is warming and soothing to the gut. Yarrow is power house herb. You could write an entire book on it’s benefits. Yarrow is also on the medium of bitterness with a hint of sweetness. Ginger is warming and a good balance to the cooling yellow dock and yarrow.
Let’s make the bitter!
Nectarine Bitters Recipe
Ingredients:
1 medium size nectarine
1/4 cup of yellow dock root
5-6 sage leaves (fresh or dry)
1/4 cup of yarrow leaves and flowers (fresh or dry)
1 tbsp of dried ginger
80 proof alcohol
mason jar
piece of parchment paper slightly larger than the mouth of your jar
Method:
In a clean mason jar place all of your bitter herbs. Chop the nectarine in to quarter size pieces and add those to the jar. Fill the jar with alcohol to at least 1/2 and inch above the ingredients in the jar. Place your parchement paper over the mouth of the jar and screw on the lid. Give the jar a few gentle turns and flips to make sure the alcohol has reached all parts of the ingredients. Label and place in a warm dark place for up a month.
Turn the jar daily or as often as your remember. After two week give your bitter a taste and see if it needs more time to infuse. If so leave for another week and check again. When the taste is strong to your liking strain out the herbs and fruit and place the bitters liquor into a clean jar and label.
Yay you’ve made your own bitters! I find 1-2 tbsp mixed with a little water is a perfect amount for me. I take it 30 minutes before eating to get my digestive system going.
Enjoy!
If you make this or have made herbal bitters before leave me a note in the comments below!
