Nettle & Dandelion Spring Bitters

Stinging nettle and dandelion root, the two great weeds of hedgerow and lawn, steeped together into a 1:5 extract at 40% proof — a bracing green bitters, murky and mineral, bitter enough to make the mouth pucker before it settles into something almost pleasant. What the gardener spends a summer pulling out, the herbalist spends a summer gathering in. Bitter herbs like these have long been taken before meals across European folk practice, a habit older than the word aperitif, meant to wake a sluggish appetite and ease the work of digestion. Nettle and dandelion together have also served as an old spring tonic, taken to clear the sluggishness of a long, dark winter. Take ten drops on the tongue, or in a splash of water, shortly before eating — the bitterness itself is thought to be the working part, so it is meant to be tasted, not disguised. A small glass dropper bottle makes it easy to carry the habit to the table. This bitters is traditionally used to support ordinary digestion and appetite, not to treat any digestive condition, and it is not a substitute for medical advice. Our nettle and dandelion are wild-foraged from hedgerow and verge rather than cultivated, gathered at the point in the season when both are at their most bitter and mineral.