Scrappy's Cocktail Bitters, Citrus Set

Sets mean never having to say you’re bored. Spicy, fruity and tart, these four bitters let you add different drops of flavor to your cocktails. Try out a few experiments, mix and match, whip up an alchemic storm at your home bar.

The four flavors – grapefruit, chocolate, cardamom and lime – bear all the hallmarks of good bitters. Splash a few drops on the back of your hand and you will experience the intensity of organically-created aromas, handmade in small batches.

And for casual cocktail drinker – perhaps someone new to bitters altogether – you can take comfort from the handy recipe card stashed inside the box.

Bitters, thanks to the high alcohol content, will happily keep for a long time if stored in a cool, dark cupboard and kept tightly secured.

A couple of drops in a cocktail will add a subtle layer of flavor to the drink. The citrus flavors will do nicely to off-set sweetness and add a refreshing note to all kinds of cocktails. The earthy spice of the cardamom goes great with dark liquor drinks, and can transform a cocktail even when used alone.

If you want to skip the booze, make a soda: Sprinkle 8–10 dashes of bitters into a glass full of ice, then fill with club soda — it’s refreshing enough to revive the mind, but won't put you under the table.

Here are some recipes to get you started on using these for cocktails: 

Martinique
2.5 ounces gin (Plymouth is good)
1/2 ounce dry vermouth (like Noilly Prat)
1–3 drops cardamom bitters

This is a classic gin martini brightened with a bit of cardamom. Put the gin and vermouth into a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Stir gently with a long spoon until the alcohol is cold. Sprinkle the cardamom bitters into the bottom of your cocktail glass, then strain the alcohol into it. Garnish with a lemon twist. 

Bergamot
1/2 ounce of Amaro (like Montenegro or Averna)
1/2 ounce earl gray gin* 
1/4 maraschino liqueur
1–2 dashes of orange bitters

Pour all the ingredients into a glass filled with ice and stir until the glass is frosty and the alcohol is cold. Strain into a glass and garnish with an orange twist. 

*To make earl gray gin, take 1/8 cup of loose earl gray tea leaves, pour 1/2 liter of gin into it. Infuse for two hours, then strain out the leaves. Don't press the leaves to squeeze out the last drops of alcohol — this can draw out too much of the tannic acid from the leaves.

The Mauroni
1 ounce gin
1 ounce Maurin Quina (a French apertif made with dark cherries, quinine and bitter almonds)
1 ounce Amaro Averna
2 dashes of grapefruit bitters

This has the slightly bitter, rich, orange-scented flavor of a negroni, without being one. Stir all ingredients in a glass filled with ice until cold. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with an orange twist.

It’s not easy to make robust, bitter flavors that only require a drop to taste. At least not without the aid of chemicals. But Scrappy’s have achieved a remarkable thing in their Seattle kitchen: a range of dense, powerful bitters made from organic ingredients. Hand-crafted in small batches, many of the ingredients used are home-grown.

Please email support@kaufmann-mercantile.com.  We reply to every email promptly. Or call us at 347 529 5122.

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