Rose bitters

A full moon exploration

For weeks rose blessed this house. Its scent finds its way around corners and through trees to find me wherever I am. The bees and other pollinators obsess over it, the bloom becoming their fluffy pink feather beds. Rose is a balm to the heart. I can see now that the last wave of flowers are putting on their show. Soon the front garden will start putting in the work toward growing her red hips. I wanted to capture this last gift for just a bit longer. It felt like there was no better time than the full moon for this project. So today, we’re making rose bitters.

If you’ve been here since the beginning, you may know I specialized in making bitters when I ran my online apothecary and in my brick and mortar store. It is such a unique type of tincture that is equally treasured in the culinary and medicinal world. Finding the balance between health and taste is fascinating to me. Getting to explore all of the complex compounds that make up plants and how they can be blended to create a bitters formula is still exciting. This is a fun exploratory recipe that preserves a glimmer of this special moment of summer.