Have you ever tried your hand at making your own homemade Frey wine bitters? If not, here’s a quick and easy guide to get you started on this fabulous digestive tonic. Using our June Wine of the Month as an inspiration to make our bitters, we uncorked a bottle of our 2022 Biodynamic Field Blend for our project.

Herbal bitters infused in wine provide a simple alcohol extract of the bitter properties of the herbs. Bitters have traditionally been used as digestifs —a few drops are usually considered a sufficient dosage, so a quart of bitters will last you a very long time (or make several smaller bottles for gifts).

For many years, I’ve been making Frey wine bitters. And, this Spring, Eliza Frey and I got together to make a few different batches of Frey wine bitters. We decided to focus on three different flavors of bitters. In this blog, we’ll talk you through the process, and then at the end of the blog, we even offer a video of our kitchen session so that you can visually follow along step-by-step with our recipes.

Artichoke Leaf Bitters

For artichoke leaf bitters, all you need is a small leaf from an artichoke plant. Since artichokes grow well here in Freyland, Eliza procured a local leaf for our first recipe. We picked up a bottle of the Frey Biodynamic Field Blend, a quart jar for our project, and set to work making our first batch.

Artichoke Leaf Bitter Recipe

1. First, harvest your artichoke leaf from an organic/biodynamic garden that you trust. Making sure you get an organic leaf is important since purity figures prominently when working with thin leaves —for a clean product, make sure you use the best ingredients first. If artichokes don’t grow in your area, there are many other bitter herbs that you can use (dandelion greens for example, or perhaps ask your local plant experts or even the internet for more suggestions).

2. Gather together your ingredients: leaf, quart jar, Frey wine, and your kitchen essentials (cutting board and knife).

3. Chop up your leaf semi-finely.

4. Place leaf pieces in a quart jar.

5. Cover with Frey wine.

6. Put a lid on it.

7. Label your bitters with the date, flavor, and menstruum (the type of alcohol you are using for your herbal extraction).

8. Shake daily for about a month.

9. Strain out your bitters and discard the herbs (compost preferably).

Olive Leaf Bitters

Not unlike the artichoke bitters, olive leaf bitters can be made easily if you have access to an olive tree. Using just a small branch from an olive tree you can make a lot of bitters! Eliza harvested the branch we used for this recipe from the olive trees we cultivate in the vineyards.

Olive Leaf Bitter Recipe

1. First, harvest your olive leaf branch from an organic/biodynamic garden that you trust. Making sure you get an organic leaf is important since purity figures prominently when working with thin leaves —for a clean product, make sure you use the best ingredients first. If olives don’t grow in your area, there are many other bitter herbs that you can use (dandelion greens for example, or perhaps ask your local plant experts or even the internet for more suggestions).

2. Gather together your ingredients: leaves, pint or quart jar, Frey wine, and your kitchen essentials (cutting board and knife).

3. Chop up your leaf semi-finely.

4. Place leaf pieces in a quart jar.

5. Cover with Frey wine.

6. Put a lid on it.

7. Label your bitters with the date, flavor, and menstruum (the type of alcohol you are using for your herbal extraction).

8. Shake daily for about a month.

9. Strain out your bitters and discard the herbs (compost preferably).

Grapefruit Peel Bitters

Personally, this is my favorite bitters recipe of all time. Or, at least grapefruit peel is the base of my favorite bitters recipe. I have a dear friend nearby who has a wonderfully old and amazing grapefruit tree in her yard. For YEARS I have been making a bitter concoction with her grapefruits, giving away the bitters for holiday presents, and otherwise enjoying this delightfully simple and not-too-bitter blend. While the first two bitters we mentioned are very strong in the bitter flavor, this one can be a bit more of a sipper. For this demonstration, we just used grapefruit peel and a bit of grapefruit for the bitter, but when I do my favorite bitter recipe, I also add orange peel, lemon peel, and lime peel, as well as several other bitter herbs for a full-bodied bitter that has lots of different flavors coming through in the final bitter product. If you want to experiment, you can add bitter herbs like lavender and chamomile for a more complex flavor profile.

Grapefruit Peel Bitters Recipe

First, harvest your grapefruit from an organic/biodynamic garden that you trust or a store that sells organic. Making sure you get an organic grapefruit is important because we are going to be making an extract of the peel, and if the peel has been sprayed, then you will be extracting those unwanted ingredients as well in your alcohol infusion.

1. Gather together your ingredients: a grapefruit, quart jar, Frey wine, and your kitchen essentials (cutting board and knife).

2. Peel your grapefruit.

3. Chop up your peel and some pieces of the fruit.

4. Place your grapefruit peel and fruit pieces in a quart jar.

5. Cover with Frey wine.

6. Put a lid on it.

7. Label your bitters with the date, flavor, and menstruum (the type of alcohol you are using for your herbal extraction).

8. Shake daily for about a month.

9. Strain out your bitters and discard the herbs (compost preferably).

Still curious what this process looks like? We’ve got you! We made a video of the different steps in Eliza’s kitchen as we were preparing these three herbal wine bitters. Check it out!

Final Step

After a month, your bitter infusion will be ready for you! Drain out the herbal mixture from your alcohol extract using a sieve or cheesecloth. You can compost those herbs, and save the wine. Now you have Frey Wine Bitters! You can take a few drops here and there as a digestif, or you can sip on a small shot glass amount while you are cooking, before a meal, to get your digestive fluids flowing —some folks even like adding a small bit of bitters to sparkling water. However you enjoy your bitters, thanks for making some kitchen DIY bitters with Eliza and me!