Step Your Cocktail Game Up This Holiday Season. Seven Stills launches line of seasonal craft bitters.
San Francisco, CA; November, 2014 – The duo at Seven Stills (notorious for making award winning whiskeys from craft beers) are at it again with their line of seasonal craft bitters. This time they’ve created three incredibly unique bitters and want to share some of their favorite cocktails to use them in to set your holiday party off!
Inspired by the booming craft cocktail scene the guys at Seven Stills were constantly coming up with custom batches of bitters to make their perfect seasonal cocktails. After receiving amazing response from some of the top bar programs in San Francisco, Seven Stills decided to set out and launch their own line of bitters highlighting some of their favorite produce from local farmers markets. Their line is set to include Prickly Pear specifically for Mezcal and Tequila cocktails, Blood Orange for Bourbon, Rye and Brown Spirits, and Cranberry for anything fall or winter themed.
The guys then teamed up with award winning spirits designer David Cole to come up with three of the coolest looking bitters labels on the market, each focusing on the culture behind the bitter’s highlighted ingredient.
How you can order one of the first bottles in time for the holidays!
One thing many of you may not know is that whiskey can take months if not years to age. The guys at Seven Stills have been stockpiling whiskey for the last year and are looking for your support to help get their bitters to the market in time for the holidays. By visiting their Kickstarter page you can pledge $16 for a single bottle or $45 for the set and have them delivered in time for Christmas. Read below for some fun recipes using their new bitters!
Let’s get down to the basics, what are bitters and how do you use them?
Bitters are an extremely concentrated blend of herbs and spices with a prominent flavor that are added to cocktails to give the drink complexity. They usually come in a dropper bottle or with a woozy cap so you can top your drink off with just a few drops or a dash to create a traditional cocktail. (The traditional cocktail referred to a drink made of spirit, water, sugar and bitters).
Generally when making a cocktail you’ll measure your spirits/liqueurs and mixers and put them in a mixing glass or a cocktail shaker, and fill with ice and shake/stir. The chilled drink is then strained into the glass of your choice and garnished and bitters are added.
And now that you know the basics about bitters, here are some fun holiday recipes that are inspired by Bitters and Shake but using our unique bitters for a twist!
Feeling Ambitious and Want To Learn How to Make Your Own Bitters?
Making bitters is actually a really simple process and is a lot of fun to do. All you need to do is choose a star ingredient, such as Prickly Pear, Cranberry, or Blood Orange, and think of some herbs and spices that you think would complement that flavor, and allow them to sit in a mixture of high proof alcohol for a period of 1-2 weeks.
Here are a couple of fun recipes. Feel free to use them for DIY gifts inspired by Seven Stills recipes, or add your own spin to them!
Complex Orange Bitters:
Zest of: 2 oranges, 2 blood oranges, 1 dried orange
1 tbspn coriander, 4 crushed cardamom pods, 1 star anise, 1 tbspn gentian root, 1 tbsp wormwood, 1 whole clove, 2 cups of high proof grain neutral spirit (such as Everclear).
Peel your citrus and add all of the above ingredients into a large mason jar.
Allow the mixture to sit for 7-14 days until the desired flavor is achieved.
Strain the liquid into a separate mason jar, and put the solids into a sauce pan.
Add 2 cups of water to the sauce pan, bring the mixture to a boil and then let simmer for 15-20 minutes.
Allow the mixture to cool and put in a separate mason jar. Let sit for 3-5 days.
Strain the solids from the second mason jar and add the water into the alcohol solution in the first jar. Allow to sit for 3-5 days before filtering through cheese cloth, bottling and using in your favorite cocktail!
Hopped Grapefruit Bitters:
Zest of 2 large grapefruits, 2 meer lemons
2 tbsp coriander, 1 tbsp gentian root, 1 tbsp dried mint, 1 tbsp wormwood, 1 whole clove, 1 tbsp whole hop cones, 2 cups of GNS.
Peel your citrus and add all of the above ingredients into a large mason jar.
Allow the mixture to sit for 7-14 days until the desired flavor is achieved.
Strain the liquid into a separate mason jar, and put the solids into a sauce pan.
Add 2 cups of water to the sauce pan, bring the mixture to a boil and then let simmer for 15-20 minutes.
Allow the mixture to cool and put in a separate mason jar. Let sit for 3-5 days.
Strain the solids from the second mason jar and add the water into the alcohol solution in the first jar.
Allow to sit for 3-5 days before filtering through cheese cloth, bottling and using in your favorite cocktail!
Tim Obert
CEO, Seven Stills
760.470.2721
tim@sevenstillsofsf.com
