Be Creative: Bittercube Bitters #Giveaway

Creativity is key to blogging.

Sometimes it feels great -- like dozens and dozens of ideas are knocking at your mind's door, just waiting to be let out into the world.

But, sometimes it's tough to keep going. Even after five years of fairly regular blogging, we still find ourselves in the occasional slump. We don't feel like cooking. We don't feel like writing. We feel like no one really cares about what we're doing anyhow.

It's at these points when we have to work especially hard to harness our creative energy.

On days when you feel like banging your head against the wall, here are some tips to remember:

1. Creativity begets creativity. Keep on writing, cooking, and doing what you're doing. The more you do it, the more creative you will be.
2. Keep your eyes open for inspiration. It's there -- in the books you read, in the people you meet, in the magazines you read, and in the ingredients you find at the market.  You've just got to be open to it.
3. Remember that there is more where that came from. When you're writing about something you're passionate about, there is always a new discovery to make, and something new to share.  You just have to remember that and be confident about it. There is more inside of you than you know.
4. Look to others for support. Rather than looking at the blogging community as a source of competition, look to them as a place to find respite and encouragement. Ask for suggestions. Look to others for inspiration. Don't steal content outright -- but use other peoples' ideas as a leaping point for your own.
5. Just hang in there. When you're in a slump, wait it out.  Keep writing in the meantime, even if you don't publish anything. You'll be amazed at how quickly the inspiration to create returns.

It seems that we're always meeting creative new people these days. They're people who inspire us to do more, be more, and explore new places, new recipes.

And, in this case, new cocktails.

We first met the Bittercube guys, Nicholas Kosevich and Ira Koplowitz, at the Wine & Dine Wisconsin event two years ago. We were not only taken with the charm of this witty pair, but also struck with the immense creativity that they bring to their business -- making the meanest cocktail bitters we've ever tried.

Now, what are bitters? 
Bitters are actually highly concentrated forms of liquid spice made from roots, barks, leaves, flowers, fruits and seeds. They're a little bit like a spice cupboard for your bar -- imparting a wide range of flavors with very little effort on your part.

We love the guys over at Bittercube -- not just because they're local -- but also because they use only natural ingredients in their bitters. They literally create each and every batch by hand -- peeling hundreds of pounds of citrus, weighing dozens of spices, and decorticating vanilla beans, among other time consuming tasks!

You won't find natural or artificial flavoring or coloring added to the bitters at any stage of their production.  They also don't use extracts, which are commonly used by larger bitters companies.  Each batch of bitters takes between four and eight weeks to manufacture, depending on the length of time it takes to pull the optimal amount of flavor out of the ingredients.

To give you an idea of how the bitters pair with various types of spirits, here's a list of great pairings for your bitters:

• Cherry Bark Vanilla and Orange Bitters are perfect with bourbon and rye whiskey. 
• The Orange Bitters are also great added to a wheat beer, in lieu of an orange slice!
• Bolivar works well with most spirits, but especially brandy, whiskey and sparkling wine. 
• The Jamaican Bitters are great with rum and hot cocktails. 
• The Blackstrap Bitters pair well with rum, pisco, and scotch.

Bittercube was also generous enough to share a recipe with us for a simple and lovely summer cocktail with a balance of honey and mint aromas. Their Jamaican #2 Bitters adds richness and depth with grapefruit and vanilla notes. 

Sparrow Bee

2 oz. El Dorado 5y Rum

.75 oz Lemon Juice 

.75 oz Honey Syrup***

7 mint leaves 

1 Eyedropper Jamaican #2 Bitters 

Glass: Coupe with Sidecar or Martini Glass

Instructions: Rip 5-7 mint leaves, drop into shaker. Add ingredients, shake lightly, strain with tea strainer.  Garnish by floating 1 small mint leaf atop the cocktail with one drop of Jamaican #2 Bitters atop the mint leaf for aroma.

***Honey Syrup

1 cup Good Honey

5oz Hot Water

3 oz Granulated sugar 

Combine Sugar and Water then whisk in Honey.

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This is the fourth of five... make that seven 5th Burp!-Day giveaways taking place on the blog all through the month of June. So come back often, and come hungry!

One lucky reader will win a box of assorted Bittercube Bitters.

To enter, simply visit the recipe search page on the Bittercube web site, conduct a search for your favorite spirit or ingredient, and let us know which recipe you find that sounds good to you! For bonus entries, give @Bittercube a follow on Twitter or a LIKE on their Facebook page.  Be sure to leave us a comment letting us know you did just that.

You'll have until NOON on June 30, 2012 to enter.  Winners will be chosen at random and notified by email, so please leave your email addy with your comment if it's not included with your Blogger profile. Entries from the U.S. only, please.

As an added bonus, since June is Dairy Month, all entrants will ALSO be entered to win a grand prize assortment of hand-selected Wisconsin cheeses.

Full Disclosure: This giveaway is sponsored by Bittercube, who provided us with the product for our giveaway. However, all opinions expressed in this post are our own.

 ©BURP! Where Food Happens

Herbal Infusions: Simple Syrup

As you develop a collection of fresh herbs growing on your patio, balcony, or in your garden, you'll eventually find yourself wondering what to do with all that bounty.  So, part of the goal of this summer herb series is to give you a few more ideas to add to your repertoire.

This week, we're going to focus on something easy and sweet. Something perfect for all the hot summer weather that's approaching in July. And something you may never have tried before: herbal simple syrup.

One of my favorite ways to get the most from summer herbs is to make simple syrups.  You can use simple syrup to flavor selzer water, sweeten iced tea or lemonade, or even coffee. You can use the syrup to create an interesting herbal dressing for fruit salad (imagine melon balls soaked in mint or basil syrup), homemade ice pops, a fruit soup (strawberry soup with lemon verbena, maybe?), or a fruit and herb sorbet (blackberry basil? vanilla tarragon?). And the syrup adds an amazing layer of flavor when drizzled over a simple bundt cake or sprinkled between the layers of a sponge cake before frosting.

The Good News
There's nothing particularly complicated about making simple syrup, and infusing your syrup with herbal flavors is easy as pie.  All you need is sugar, water, and a few sprigs of your favorite herb. The usual ratio of sugar to water  is 1:1.  This mixture must be kept in the refrigerator and is best used up within a month. However, if you increase the sugar content (2:1), the mixture becomes stable for storage at room temperature and will last for up to 6 months (more info here).  This would be my preferred method for syrups I'd like to keep for an extended period of time.

The (maybe not so) Bad News
On the one hand, you'll have all sorts of great new ideas up your sleeve for entertaining. On the other hand, you'll be tempted to make all sorts of sugary treats once you happen upon your favorite herbal combination. And THAT might pose some not-so-great news for your waistline.  For example, the last time we made our infusions, we went a little crazy over our discovery of Iced Coffee with Lemon Verbena Syrup. (Lemon and coffee may seem like a far-fetched combo, but it's really quite delicious!)

And it was pretty hard to say no to yet another Vodka Rosemary Fizz after a long day at work.

But, overall, I'm going to guess that experimenting with simple syrups will introduce you to a completely new way of looking at herbs. It's not only a great way to preserve your bountiful herbal harvest for a few extra months, but it will help you to exercise your sense of adventure and discovery of new and interesting flavor combinations.

The Master Recipe: Herb Infused Simple Syrup

And here are even more resources for you to explore, if you want to do some experimenting:

• Habiscus Lemon Balm Ice Pops from Tallgrass Kitchen
• Why not try Lemonade with Simple Syrup - Homemade Lemonade from Paula Deen
• Drinks Using Simple Syrup - Bar None Drinks
• Summer Drinks Using Flavored Simple Syrups - Dallas Morning News
• Watermelon and Cantaloupe Salad with Mint and Basil Vinaigrette - Giada De Laurentiis

This post is part of our Summer 2010 Herb Series: Using and Preserving Herbs. Stay tuned every Friday for more hints, tips and tricks on how to use summer's bounty!


©BURP! Where Food Happens