0.3 cup candy coating disks (available at Kalustyans and Herbs of Mexico.)
0.3 cup cardamom whole black
2 ounces cinnamon ( 16 2" long sticks, or 8 full-size)
1 cup muscovado sugar
400 milliliters highest available proof grain spirit neutral
0.8 cup mace
2 lemon zest for peels added after two weeks
3 tablespoons blackstrap molasses
0.7 cup raisins black
1 teaspoon cassava (available as chips and twigs from Mountain Rose Herbs)
1 cup water
2 tablespoons allspice whole
Equipment
pot
mortar and pestle
cheesecloth
Directions
Loosely mash cloves, cardamom, mace, and allspice in a mortar and pestle to release oils—just a few good bashes, not enough to pulverize.
Add to 750 milliliter airtight nonreactive container.
Add cinchona bark, gentian root, cinnamon, raisins, and molasses and cover with enough alcohol that solids are submerged and there's an additional half-inch of alcohol in the container. Store in a dark place and shake daily.
After two weeks of daily shaking, peel Meyer lemons and Cara Cara orange. Open container and add peels, tearing up peels by hand to release essential oils. Reseal container and store in a dark place, continuing to shake daily.
At the end of the fourth week, strain the solid ingredients through cheesecloth and set the strained alcohol aside.
To make dilution liquid, place solid ingredients in a soup pot and cover with 4 cups water. Bring this mixture to a boil for about 15 minutes to infuse the flavor of the ingredients into the water.
Let cool and strain through cheesecloth. Measure the strained alcohol and mix with an equal amount of strained dilution liquid.
To make muscovado simple syrup, heat 1 cup water with 1 cup of muscovado sugar and stir until sugar dissolves.
Let cool.
Add 3/4 cup simple syrup to the diluted bitters mixture.
At this point, you should check for clarity by pour some bitters into a clear glass container and holding it up to the light. If you are satisfied with the clarity, consider yourself done. If you'd like to remove any present sediment, either pass bitters through a coffee filter or multiple layers (5+) of cheesecloth and repeat until you've reached desired clarity.
