Blood Orange Saffron Bitters

I pulled the Blood Orange Saffron bitters out of my cask after spending a week in American oak. The oak imparted a nice vanilla flavor and added quite a bit of complexity to the bitters. These may be my best bitters yet. In fact, if saffron weren't so damn expensive, I might be tempted to give Mr. Gary Regan and the brothers Fee a run for their money. I think I'll barrel age all my bitters in the future, its made a signifigant difference to the final product. I can't wait to give these a trial run. I'm thinking of incorporating these bitters into a new cocktail creation built around cashew feni and the bitters. Look for it soon.

Weekend Update- Blood Orange Saffron Bitters, Bacon Bourbon and Chinese Apothecary Bitters

Well, I'm flying out to spend the week on Salt Lake City tomorrow. I don't think I could be more underwhelmed by a business trip. I already hate business trips as a general rule, but spending a week at the Salt Lake airport, eating in chain restaurants and dying for caffeine and a decent drink. Anyway, the thought of living a monk-like existence spurred me to focus on some of my projects.

First, my Blood Orange-Saffron Bitters (pictured above) looked and smelled fantastic. I put them into an American oak barrel for a little aging, just to add some more depth and complexity. I think I'll pull them out when I get back.

Second, I think I've perfected my bacon infusing technique after a conversation with Phil Ward of Death and Co. I started a Bacon Bourbon (I used Bulleit because I liked the flavor profile with bacon), which should be ready in a couple of weeks. I want to do a homage to the wonderful Praline Bacon served by the Screen Door here in town. I'm thinking Bacon Bourbon and a Demerara Pecan simple syrup and maybe some bitters and I might have a cocktail.

I checked on my Apothecary Bitters as well. I should really quit calling them a bitters until I taste them, but they look good but I just want to give it a little more time to allow a little more extraction. Sven the seahorse is still as hard as a rock. Somehow, I thought Sven would be a little more pliable by now.

I tried feni this weekend. Kazkar feni to be exact. Made in India, feni is either produced from Cashew apples (as Kazkar is) or Coconuts. Think really funky cacahca and you might be close to the taste. The bouquet smells of old sweat socks, but the product itself mixes nicely and I thought it worked incredibly well subbing for cachaca in a caipirinha. I'll get a review up soon, when I have some time to mix it and play with it a little more. Fun stuff though.

Smuggled Saffron, Missouri Oak and the OBG

One of the first collaborative events the Oregon Bartenders Guild members are doing is creating bitters together. I know Jeff Morgenthaler is looking to recreate the old Bokers bitters recipe, a couple of the brilliant minds at the TearDrop Lounge have been discussing attempting an Oregon Truffle bitters, and even a pine bitters has been proposed. If you are curious about some of the discussions going on, check out our forum (you need to sign up for access) here .

One of my current favorite bitters is Fee Brothers Whiskey Barrel Aged Bitters, a lovely, complex bitters tasting of cinnamon spice. So far, all of my previous bitters creations have been made in glass, but barrel aging adds a depth and complexity that is complimentary to many styles of bitters. In fact, I've even been contemplating making a barrel aged orange bitters to contrast with the commercial orange bitters on the market. In order to facilitate the production of barrel aged bitters, each board member of the OBG has ordered a small Missouri oak barrel to produce unique styles of bitters from Steinbart’s. It should be interesting to see what everyone creates. I've been toying with the idea of a coconut bitters in addition to the barrel aged orange and saffron bitters I'm planning. Speaking of bitters, I'm quite excited to see that there is going to be a new player entering the market, Bittermen’s, I've heard good things about their products and can't wait to try them.

Last night, I was perusing my liquor cabinet, looking for something a little bit different (and also trying to free up some room, I definitely need a larger liquor cabinet) when I noticed that I had just enough Sub Rosa Saffron Vodka to pour myself a nightcap. I picked up a bucket, in went a couple of ice cubes (Tovolo to be exact)and I poured myself two fingers of vodka, finishing off the bottle. I don't generally drink vodka on the rocks, but the Sub Rosa saffron has some interesting spicy curried notes that make it worthwhile to drink that way. I was sitting at home, nursing my drink, enjoying the exotic spiciness and unwinding from a hard day. As I was admiring the orange red hue of the vodka a thought popped into my head, "why don't I make a saffron bitters?". Strangely enough, I recently met a saffron smuggler (who knew?). A few weeks ago, he surreptitiously handed me a glass vial that I thought might be something illegal, so I freaked out a bit, gave a stern lecture about not being a kid anymore, etc, etc, until I looked down and saw that the vial was filled with red threads. I was a little surprised, especially since I don't know this person well. "Its saffron, the most expensive spice in the world. I get it in Cairo for .80 an ounce and smuggle it in." I guess in the grand scheme of things being a saffron smuggler doesn't rate too high on the priorities of most law enforcement agencies, perhaps being just a slightly lower target than those dastardly tapioca smugglers. I just hope he didn't have to keester it in.

Anyway, Mr. Saffron Smuggler provided me with a full gram of the Egyptian stuff, so I went downstairs and added the threads to a fifth of everclear, which I'm going to use as my base. I doubt I'll barrel age this stuff, but once the saffron infuses the alcohol, I may add some secondary flavoring agents to the mixture. I'm also curious to compare it to the Sub Rosa saffron vodka to see the differences.