I am not one for much drinking but during a recent visit to relatives I (reluctantly, thinking 'what will I do with this?') received a gift of some home made alcoholic plant bitters. I have found myself thinking about it when my belly was a bit upset, trying a swig, and finding that it was just what my belly needed. The feeling I got immediately was so soothing. I have only thought about having some when I needed it (at most once every few weeks, but mostly months between times, thankfully) and always in just the small amount needed, so it really does seem to be there for this specific purpose.
Now I am so grateful to have this in my cupboard.
I am also grateful for this new perspective of the home made bitters being a whole different substance than those which are mass produced. The mass produced ones are the ones that I was thinking about ('what will I do with this?') when handed the bottle. I'd been offered them before and had found that when I tried them they so felt nasty going down that I'd barely manage not to spit them up. As a result, I've had no interest in them. This homemade bitter drink is "a whole 'nuther ballgame" it seems. Now I know why both my grandmothers and pretty much all my older female relatives made their own and always had some on hand for medicinal purposes. I understand that making them is a bit of a process in that it takes some time to brew and that, if you'd learned the steps involved, the steps themselves (including harvesting your own materials) were pretty simple
Angela, if you make some of your own bitters successfully I'd be very interested to hear about it.
Also, if you are interested, and have an appropriate specific bitter or theme in mind, I'd like to invite you to write an article about if for the "Health, etc" board which
Anaeika and I are moderators of. I think there is likely to be lots we can all learn from your explorations and I'd love to see it shared