Hop Bitters

Hops four ozs., Orange Peel two ozs., Cardamon two drms., Cinnamon one drm., Cloves one-half drm., Alcohol eight ozs., Sherry Wine two pints, Simple Syrup one pint. Water sufficient. Grind the drugs, macerate in the Alcohol and Wine for one week, percolate and add enough syrup and water to make one gallon.

Source: One Thousand Secrets of Wise and Rich Men Revealed, C. A. Bogardus

Bitters

Bruise an ounce of gentian root, and two drams of cardamom seeds together: add an ounce of lemon peel, and three drams of Seville orange peel. Pour on the ingredients a pint and half of boiling water, and let it stand an hour closely covered: then pour off the clear liquor, and a glass of it taken two or three times a day will be found an excellent bitter for the stomach.

Or slice an ounce of gentian root, and add half a dram of snakes’ root bruised, half a dram of saffron, three quarters of a dram of cardamom seeds, and the same of cochineal bruised together, and the peel of three Seville oranges. Steep the ingredients in a pint of brandy fourteen days, shaking them together frequently; then strain the tincture through a piece of muslin, and a tea-spoonful in a glass of wine may be taken two or three times a day.

Source: The Cook And Housekeeper’s Complete and Universal Dictionary, Mary Eaton

An Excellent Bitter

Cut 1/2 oz. of gentian in thin slices into a stone jar, with the same quantity of fresh orange peel and sliced ginger. Pour over them 1 quart of boiling water, and let it stand ten hours. Strain it, add a gill of sherry, and bottle it. For a weak stomach, a wine-glassful the first thing in the morning will create an appetite.

Source: The English Housekeeper, Anne Cobbett

Grandmother’s Family Spring Bitters

Mandrake root one ounce, dandelion root one ounce, burdock root one ounce, yellow dock root one ounce, prickly ash berries two ounces, marsh mallow one ounce, turkey rhubarb half an ounce, gentian one ounce, English camomile flowers one ounce, red clover tops two ounces.

Wash the herbs and roots; put them into an earthen vessel, pour over two quarts of water that has been boiled and cooled; let it stand over night and soak; in the morning set it on the back of the stove, and steep it five hours; it must not boil, but be nearly ready to boil. Strain it through a cloth, and add half a pint of good gin. Keep it in a cool place. Half a wine-glass taken as a dose twice a day.

This is better than all the patent blood medicines that are in the market–a superior blood purifier, and will cure almost any malignant sore, by taking according to direction, and washing the sore with a strong tea of red raspberry leaves steeped, first washing the sore with castile soap, then drying with a soft cloth.

Source: The White House Cookbook, F.L. Gillette

Thoroughwort Bitters

Make a strong tea of the thoroughwort–strain it, and when cool, put to a couple of quarts of it half a pint of French brandy, the peel of two or three fresh oranges, cut into small bits, and half a dozen bunches of fennel, or smallage seed. The seed and orange peel should be crowded into a bottle, then the tea and brandy turned in. The bottle should be corked tight. The bitters will keep good almost any length of time, and is an excellent remedy for bilious complaints, and can often be taken when the thoroughwort tea will not sit on the stomach. A wine glass of these bitters to a tumbler of water is about the right proportion. It should have a little sugar added to it before drinking it.

Source: The American Housewife