Libations

A Chat with Bittercube Bitters

August 26 2013 - 1:00 PM

Nicholas Kosevich and Ira Koplowitz of Milwaukee’s Bittercube have had a couple busy months. The duo released a new limited-edition bitters style called Door County Hops and worked to open two new bar/restaurants: Blue Jacket in Milwaukee and Scratch in Norman, OK. They took some time, though, to chat with Chicago Foodies by email and tell us about what it’s like to hand-batch bitters, train staff on new drinks and play the role of educators.

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Chicago Foodies: Let’s start with the basics. Nick, you are out of Minneapolis, and Ira you’re out of Chicago. What brought you together?
Bittercube: Ira had a girlfriend in Minneapolis and she was showing him all the cocktail joints in the city. Coming from Violet Hour, word spread fast that he was making the circuit. We all thought he was Toby Maloney coming to check out the local competition (as he was opening up Bradstreet in Minneapolis at the time). Anyways, he walked into Town Talk Diner [where Nick worked at the time] and we hit it off right away. The rest is history.

CF: I know you both think of yourselves as educators. But you are, after all, a business… do you ever find that there is such a thing as sharing too much?
B: Absolutely not. The craft cocktail scene is not new. If anything. bartenders nowadays are rediscovering a lost art. All of these classic cocktails were developed way before us… all we can do is interpret them for the modern palate.  What use is it to use quality slow-crafted bitters if we can’t make a proper Manhattan? The bartending community is so supportive and understanding of trial and error. Brothers and sisters looking out for each other and spreading knowledge.

 

CF: I believe you are the only guys doing bitters in the Midwest, but there are plenty of other craft distillers nearby going in many different directions. How do you describe the environment that you collectively work in?
B: When we met up we didn’t know anyone was producing bitters at an artisan level. After we started marketing our product it went to, “Oh, there are a lot of really cool people doing this.” By no means does that detract from what we’re doing. All it means to us is that the demand for quality from a public standpoint is on the rise. We have friends and family all over the country doing amazing things and the liquid culture is growing at an exponential scale. As a small business, making bitters is only one facet. We consult for restaurants, events, and are ambassadors for spirits. On top of all this we have a few more products we’re hoping to launch in the near future…

Bittercube - Making Bitters

 

CF: Both of you have a history making bitters at previous gigs. Are any of the six offerings or limited editions carryovers from that era or were these all developed fresh?
B: When we started combining our recipes it became apparent that we didn’t want to pigeonhole ourselves to just a few flavor profiles. The year-round six are geared towards specific spirits and techniques that we think bartenders were asking for. More tools on the belt. The Jamaican series is interesting because it has the same ingredient list, but they’re completely different due to augmented ratios and macerations.

 

CF: The company has certainly grown. How wide is your distribution now? Do your recipes scale well or are you finding you have to refine your practice as the batch size changes?
B: [Bittercube is  available in] Washington, Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Georgia, New York, Florida, Arizona, and we just released in California and Nevada this week and are shipping out to Washington DC at the end of next week. Like cooking, as everything increases in size, we need to supplement certain spices and herbs. As we grow, our goal is to make the batch as good or better than the last one. The process is organic, all of the ingredients we use have seasons, and understanding that and proactively trying to capitalize on these tangents only make the product better. We’re up to 250 gallon batches now!

 

CF: Is there a base or style you’d like to work with? Any new ingredients you’re itching to try?
B: We’d like to do a limited edition using brandy or grappa as the base and we just used yarrow herb and feverfew for our Limited Edition Hops Bitters. We were pretty excited about those two botanicals. They are two herbs we found in an old recipe for beer before the use of hops. We’re also into Lucknow fennel, green coriander, black cumin and more styles of cinnamon.

 

CF: Along the same lines, what ingredients have been difficult to work with?
B: The bittering agents in our bitters are the most difficult ingredients to lasso. This seems to be the problem for a lot of small batch producers. Either the bitters are too bitter or lack any bitter backbone at all. Controlling the level of bitterness on the tongue when tasting alone as compared to what the bitter does in a cocktail or seltzer water is the challenge.

 

CF: Have you been surprised by any uses people have come up with for your bitters?
B: We just wrote a few cocktail recipes for the Food & Wine cocktail book. One of those cocktails, Serotina, calls for a full 1/2 oz of Cherry Bark Vanilla Bitters. We also have chefs using the bitters in vinaigrette, as aromatic garnishes and in baking and frostings.

 

Bittercube - Nick and Ira LaughingCF: Your ethos as educators means your consulting work could potentially be a very rewarding avenue, especially with small groups, either a dozen passionate professionals or a dozen total newbs.
B: Small intimate groups can sometimes be the most fun. We love hands-on experiences for clients, and working with 4 couples who all pitched in for a cocktail class is a great way to do that! We do a lot of private events for corporations who are looking for new and interesting ways to entertain their teams as well.

We have 10 bars and restaurants under our belt in the last three years and have trained over 50 bartenders in 4 different states. Working with people that have little to no experience behind the stick and giving them the tools and techniques to create well balanced cocktails is a very rewarding part of our job.

Weddings are a great time as well. We’ve developed menus for the bride and groom based on experiences they’ve shared together, their interests or themes around their wedding. Weddings and private parties are always different. It keeps that side of the work exciting.

 

CF: Finally, what spirits, products or producers are exciting you at the moment? Batavia arrack? Single-village Mezcal? Bruichladdich Octomore? Midori?

B: Our good friend Mike McCarron just created three aquavits over at 45th Parallel in New Richmond, Wisconsin that we are in love with. We also just helped White Lion Arrack from Sri Lanka get distribution in Minnesota with Wisconsin and Illinois on the horizon. These unique products make our job much easier.

Read more about Bittercube and find three great cocktail recipes here. Images courtesy of Bittercube.com.

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