Understanding Cocktail Components

Homework for Bittering Course Unit

Exercise: Developing the Palate

The homework for this week is going to get our palate comfortable with bitter ingredients and
how they can be controlled. We will only be working with Angostura bitters, both because it’s the
standard behind most bars, but also because it can found almost everywhere.

If you don’t have access to Angostura bitters, they can found at most grocery stores or on
Amazon for around $10.

Day One: We are going to establish our base line today by adding 4 dashes to a 6 oz glass of
water. Pay attention to the level of bitterness that you experience. We will be comparing
different combinations to this baseline. Record your tasting notes here:
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Day Two: Add 4 dashes of bitters to 6 oz of sparking water, or regular water with a squeeze of
lemon or lime. How has this changed the bitterness that you experienced?
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Day Three: Add 4 dashes to 5 oz of water and 1 ounce of simple syrup, or add 1 teaspoon of
white sugar to a 6 oz glass of water, and stir to dissolve. How has the sugar affected the level of
bitterness that you experienced?
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Day Four: Add 4 dashes to 5 oz of water sweetened with 1 oz of turbinado or demerara simple
syrup, or you can add a teaspoon that has been dissolved into 6 oz of water. (you can pick up a
couple of extra packets from your local coffee shop in the morning when you get your coffee )
how has the extra flavor of the different sugar changed the flavor of the bitters?
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Day Five: Add 8 dashes of bitters to 5 oz of water and 1 oz of turbinado or demerara simple
syrup, or add 1 teaspoon of the sugar to 6 oz of water, and stir to dissolve. Did the increased
amount of bitters in your drink match your expectations?
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Day Six: Add 2 dashes of bitters to 5 oz of water and 1 oz of turbinado or demerara simple
syrup, or add 1 teaspoon of the sugar to 6 oz of water, and stir to dissolve. Did the decreased
amount of bitters in your drink match your expectations?
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Copyright © 2014 A Bar Above All Rights Reserved
 Understanding Cocktail Components
Homework for Bittering Course Unit

Day Seven: If you need to refresh your memory, recreate all of the experiments today
and taste them all side by side. For extra points, alter any of the proportions of water,
citrus, bitters and sugar.
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By the end of the week, you should be comfortable with how different ingredients can affect the
taste of bitters in different drinks.

Copyright © 2014 A Bar Above All Rights Reserved