Scrappy's Lavender Bitters

Bitters have been enlivening spirits — in all senses of the word — since the mid-19th century. What was once a medicinal compound (of dubious efficacy) for a variety of Victorian maladies is now re-appropriated to better effect for cocktails. This lavender bitters is Scrappy's flagship blend. It's a complex, powerful brew, capable of doing its job with just two drops. The bitters hold strong and bright on the tongue before submitting to sweetness in the nose and throat. The lavender exudes bouncy freshness. Spring, straight from a bottle to your step.

This bottle will, if not outlast you, certainly have to move houses with you at least once. Its key quality is the punch packed by the flavors. Determined to create a robust taste, capable of holding it’s head above the sharpest of alcohol hits, Scrappy’s have used exclusively fresh, organic herbs, eschewing the duller notes often struck by oil and extracts.

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 lovely floral note to your drink. Lavender bitters are delicious sprinkled into a mid-afternoon glass of champagne or scenting a daiquiri. Place a drop on the back of your hand to get a sense of its flavors, then experiment.

If you want to skip the booze, make a lavender soda: Sprinkle 8–10 dashes of lavender soda into a glass full of ice, then fill with club soda — it’s refreshing enough to revive the mind, without putting you under the table. 

Here are some recipes to get you started: 

Lavender Blues
2 ounces gin
1 ounce lemon juice
3/4 ounce Demerara syrup or simple syrup*
10 blueberries
3–4 dashes of lavender bitters

In a cocktail shaker, muddle the blueberries with the simple syrup until they are nice and mashed up. Add the lemon juice, gin and lavender bitters. Fill the shaker with ice, and shake. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Sicilian Smile
2 ounces gin
1/2 ounce apricot juice
1/2 ounce Amaro Averna (a Sicilian bitter liqueur)
2 dashes of lavender bitters
Fresh champagne float 

In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, shake together the gin, apricot juice and Amaro Averna and lavender bitters. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass, leaving about half an inch of room on top. Gently pour champagne down the back of a spoon into the glass until full.

The Lusty Lady
2 ounces gin
1/2 ounce lime juice
1/2 ounce Demerara syrup or simple syrup*
1/8 ounce cranberry juice
1 egg white (use an egg fresh out of the refrigerator. This gives the drink a beautiful consistency and dry finish)
2–3 dashes of lavender bitters

Pour into all the ingredients into a cocktail shaker and give it a good, hard "dry" shake — meaning without ice — to emulsify the egg white. Fill the shaker with ice and shake again until it is frosted and the drink is cold. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

*If you're making cocktails at home, you should have some kind of syrup around. Here's how to make simple syrup: take two parts white or Demerara sugar, mix with one part hot water. Stir until the sugar is melted. Store in the refrigerator for up to three weeks.

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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