Featured Recipes
Our short list of must-trys for the season.
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Featured Recipes
Our short list of must-trys for the season.
Alchermes Sour
View RecipeBlueberry Compote
View RecipeCaptain Truman
View RecipeHemingway Daiquiri
View RecipeOldest Pal
View RecipeRamos Gin Fizz
View RecipeScarlet Manhattan
View RecipeThe Old Fashioned
View RecipeVieux Carre
View RecipeDealer's Choice
Explore cocktail varieties for more recipe ideas.
Citrusy
Spirit Forward
Effervescent
Bitter
Cocktail Basics
Our recipes use 1:1 (one-to-one) syrups, meaning equal parts sugar and water by weight. The easiest of these is Simple Syrup.
Combine equal parts of granulated sugar and boiling water removed from heat.
Stir until dissolved, let cool before using.
Keep covered and refrigerated for up to 2 weeks.
Be creative! Use botanical tea instead of plain water to create a flavored syrup. For a more robust syrup, try turbinado sugar.
More Syrup RecipesShaking and stirring each have particular effects on a cocktail. Some basics of these techniques:
Shaking
Aims to chill, aerate, and add water to a cocktail. The ingredients to be shaken are combined (almost always with ice) in your preferred cocktail shaker. The shake should be firm and energetic, and the ice should strike each end of the tin as the shaker moves back and forth. "Double strain" with a hawthorne strainer and a tea strainer after shaking to catch tiny ice chips.
Stirring
Is used to amalgamate, chill, and add water to a cocktail without aeration. This is done in a stirring vessel with a bar spoon. The aim is to smoothly spin the ingredients—without causing air bubbles—until proper dilution and temperature are achieved. Strain with a julep strainer, but if you don’t have one a hawthorne strainer can be substituted.
In general, both a dash (from Bittercube 5 oz bottles) or dropper (from Bittercube 1 oz bottles) are equivalent to slightly less than one ml of bitters. However, follow the instructions below for an accurate measurement.
Dispensing bitters from a 1 oz bottle
Squeeze the bulb of the dropper twice, filling it to about three-quarters of its capacity. The bitters should not enter the bulb. Release the bitters by squeezing the bulb repeatedly until the dropper is empty.
Dispensing bitters from a 5 oz bottle
Holding the neck of the bottle and using one fluid movement, swing the bottle until upside down. With a downward thrust, expel a dash of bitters from the bottle.
Experimentation Is Key
Try the classics, but don’t be afraid to experiment. Train your palate to recognize a well-balanced cocktail. Swap lemon and line, spirits, syrups, and-or bitters to create many cocktail variations.
Beyond Cocktails
Bitters are concentrated complex flavors, and their use isn’t limited to cocktails. Use Orange Bitters in a wheat beer; try Cherry Bark Vanilla as a replacement for vanilla extract; put Jamaican No. 2 in a vinaigrette; add Jamaican No. 1 to gingerbread. The possibilities are endless!
Featured Bartender: Samantha Goebel
Working at:
LaCrosse Distilling Co.
Cocktail:
Driftless Pimms
Samantha “Sam” Goebel has been in the service industry for 13 years now. It has had its ups and downs, but she has an appreciation for the experiences because it has given her time to identify her strengths, solidify her passions and further shape her values. If she had to choose one word to describe herself it would be relentless and in the best way possible. She’s relentless when making, testing and perfecting cocktails. New to craft bartending, Sam credits Bittercube for teaching her everything from the basics to how to construct and teach others craft cocktails. “The knowledge Bittercube gave me will forever shape the style of cocktails I create.”
See Samantha's Recipe