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What are Digestive Bitters?
Digestive Bitters are either a tincture made of different herbs and other ingredients, or several tinctures blended together. Both work; you just need to figure out which works best for you.
Health benefits of regular use of bitters:
Stimulates the production of digestive juices and enzymes in your gut, leading to better absorption of nutrients.
Stimulates the natural detoxification job of the liver.
Strengthens digestive health.
curbs sugar cravings.
calms upset belly and nausea.
antioxidant and anti-inflammatory
Can be a nice addition when creating new mocktails and cocktails
Homemade bitters have many medicinal and culinary uses, and now you can control the ingredients, the alcohol, and the flavor.
Recipe for liver-balancing bitters
Ingredients
1 tbsp. dried dandelion root (not roasted)
1 tbsp. dried chicory root
1 tsp. dried grapefruit peel OR ( ¼ grapefruit peel all cut into small pieces)
1 tsp. fennel seeds
1 tsp. cardamom seeds
1/2 tsp. dried ginger
10 oz. nonalcoholic spirit OR organic vodka
Directions
Combine first 7 ingredients in a mason jar and pour alcohol-free spirit on top.
Seal tightly and store the bitters in a cool, dark place.
Let the bitters infuse until the desired strength is reached, about 2-4 weeks. Shake the jars regularly (about once per day).
When ready, strain the bitters through a muslin cheesecloth or coffee filter. Store the strained bitters in an airtight container at room temperature.
To use: Take this bitters from a tincture dropped on or under your tongue, or blend with sparkling water.
In order for bitters to really work, you have to make sure you taste them. You need to experience the bitter tang on your tongue. It may be a bit shocking at first as the bitter flavor can take some getting used to until your taste buds adjust.
Soon you may find you crave that bitter tingle on your tongue. Truly, it really does happen!
Homemade DIY bitters give you room to play with the ingredients and are a great experiment to create your own bitter digestive/liver tonics as you need but if you have a hard time finding and sourcing the herbs, roots or seeds, you can also consider my top three favorites: