DIY Bitters: Reviving the Forgotten Flavor - A Guide to Making Your Own Bitters for Bartenders, Cocktail Enthusiasts, Herbalists, and More Hardcover – September 15, 2016

I have purchased, read and tried out:...Bitters: A Spirited History of a Classic Cure-All, Brad Parsons...Handcrafted Bitters, Will Budiaman...The Cocktail Lab, Tony Conigliaro...Making Tinctures: Beyond the Folklore Method, Thyme WisperBy a longshot, this is the best, and most detailed.Parsons - Amazing as a history lesson, and a good reference if you want to dabble. I disliked the amount of coverage on commercial bitters & cocktail recipes (I want to make my own, not read about what's available in stores and there are already thousands of web pages I can look to for recipes). I'm also much happier with the tincture method, as opposed to the 1 jar method of steeping all ingredients at the same time.Budiaman - This is a great supplement to DIY Bitters. It's gives lots of ideas of experiments, and I like the novel approach of grouping by the seasons. I disliked the mixing of Tincture and 1 Jar methods - I wish he would have stuck with the Tincture method throughout, so I didn't have to reverse engineer the recipes. Not strong enough on science or method to stand on it's own if you're really wanting to get into making bitters.Conigliaro - really interesting and novel ideas, but out of reach of most people. A rotovap, homogenizer thermomix and several other high priced pieces of equipment that simply won't be in most people's homes. Food grade essential oils and essences - if you have a rotovap why are you buying essential oils and essences? This books falls into the "because it's possible" realm, and while you do end up with several very yummy drinks, it's not the book most people will be looking for (get Liquid Intelligence instead - much more useful while still being full on geek-worthy).Wisper - simply not enough information to be useful. The method for organizing and labeling is awesome, and inspired me to be much more methodical, but the recipes and links to useful information are lacking (DIY Bitters is the book this one wanted to be).Now what's awesome about this book - basically everything.You get a nice lesson into a fairly extensive list of plants that make bitters, with detailed descriptions along with some folklore and history. The method of extraction is detailed and precise. The recipes are nice starting points, and the author invites you to experiment - Budiaman's books does this masterfully, and when read together these are a perfect pairing.Buy this book.

This DIY bitters book is incredibly thorough, with detailed instructions and plenty of helpful tips. Perfect for anyone looking to make their own bitters at home. Highly recommend!

I really love this book and am excited to start making my own bitters and extractions. The book is very informative and explains the why and how of extraction. It has helpful pictures, describes mouthfeels, tastes, and so many other things you never thought about while tasting.I also love the combination of medicinal tinctures as well as bitters to make better cocktails. Sometimes they can be both! I’m especially excited to make their digestive bitters, as it would be more cost effective to make them than to keep buying Urban Moonshine’s, which introduced me to bitters in the first place.There is one thing I wish I considered, but it’s not enough to dock a star because the book is such a great resource. The one thing is the start up cost! If you’re brand new like I am, you’ll need to buy all the herbs, alcohol, and jars to even begin. For example, if you decide to make their Chamomile bitters, the total cost is about $120. Total cost of herbs is ~$35, total cost of alcohol is ~$78, and if you need to get jars, that’s another $12. Granted, you’ll make a large amount of each herbal tincture that’ll can be used in multiple recipes. Each herb has different extracting times and needs different strengths of alcohol, so you either need to buy each one or just get Everclear and dilute it to the right amount. I wouldn’t not buy the book based on this factor, just note you might need some time to get everything before starting.

Having started with the Parsons book, I'm a big DIY bitters fan. And I know full well that any topic as broad as this will benefit from multiple viewpoints, so this title intrigued me. I'm glad I got it - the information in this complements Parsons and adds value of its own.Up to a point. I found that this started strong, but went downhill fast.The opening chapter discusses the basics of flavor, and lots more of the physical experience. I already knew that the genetics of taste receptors are far more complex for bitter tastes than for sweet or sour flavors. Given the function of bitter sensation as a warning of possible toxicity, that makes sense - there are so many toxins in the world. But, this discussion hinted at the possibility that not all bitter flavors need to taste identical, depending on which kind of receptors they activate. More than just flavor, though, the authors explore astringency versus syrupy slickness, menthol coolness versus the heat of sharp spices, numbing clove, and more. They remind us that, when experiencing food and drink, the mouth is a versatile organ.Next, the authors present the botanicals and their preparation. Whereas Parsons favors a one-pot approach to bitters, mixing all the dry botanicals and steeping them together, this book recommends extracting each one separately and mixing the tinctures to get the final product. This allows different ratios of alcohol to water, according to each flavoring's need, and different amounts of time for optimal flavor extraction. This information comes comes with a lengthy discussion of each herb or spice's flavor, often with notes on cultivation and history. And, unfortunately, some amount of herbal-magical woo. I'm well aware that many plants have pharmacological properties, including many used in making bitters. But, when it comes to "detoxifying," "purifying," and "immune support", I'm a lot happier with peer-reviewed, double-blind tests than with Ancient Wisdom. A strong immune system is not necessarily your friend, as any autoimmune or transplant patient can assure you.The last major section covers recipes, and a wider range than I expected. In addition to bottled bitters, this suggests other uses in cooking and candy-making. When it came to the bottled bitters recipes, I was a bit let down. My interests are culinary only, and the so-called medicinal ones didn't didn't seem especially lively in the flavor department. Even the bitters intended more as flavorings seemed less rich and subtle than Parsons's recipes.So, what's good in this book makes it worth keeping. I just wish less of it was dedicated to woo.-- wiredweird

I refer back to this book often.