Bob’s Liquorice Bitters: What You Didn’t Know Your Cocktail Was Missing
Cassia, allspice, clove, sarsaparilla – the ingredients of a bitters tend to read like the shelves of an apothecary and, in some cases, the taste isn’t unlike juggling several jars of herbs and spices on your tongue at once. Bob’s Bitters, a line of cocktail mixers from the United Kingdom, are a refreshingly simple breath of fresh air in the world of drink. Not long ago I asked Bob about his Liquorice Bitters, one particularly extraordinary bitters from his full line of ten bitters, whose flavors he chose from the botanicals commonly used in the distillation of gin.
The Making of Bob’s Liquorice Bitters
Bob told me a bit about the genesis of this bitters:
“The Liquorice Bitters have become a popular ingredient for the British bartender. Originally, a bartender I have worked with in the past asked me if there was anything on the market using liquorice and, as I was not aware of any such product, I decided to try to create my own. It is an excellent mixer with rum, whisky, gin, and Galliano (as this contains liquorice).”
And how is this bitters made? Seemingly quite easily, from what Bob says. He essentially just steeps licorice root in neutral grain alcohol. However, a trained hand, trial and error, and strategic timing must come into play with this “bespoke” bitters:
“The main challenge was to capture the natural bittersweetness of the root. Toward the end of the maceration period when the bitter element was introduced, the main challenge was to ensure that it did not become too bitter. This would detract from the natural liquorice flavor.”
Liquorice? Really?
I personally don’t care much for the flavor of licorice–that cloying bitterness shared with anise and fennel–but was pleasantly surprised by the subtle part the root played in this simultaneously sweet and woody mixture. Bob explains further:
markbitterman :: Nov.29.2011 :: Drink, Recipes :: No Comments »
