Dark and Stormy Mushroom Bitters Recipe
There are plenty of ways that mushrooms can be used to support digestive health and vitality. One such way is through their bitter properties. Yes! Some mushrooms have a bitter flavor, and these mushrooms can be used to create mushroom bitters just as you would use bitter tasting plants to create herbal bitters. In this…
6 Steps To Revitalize Your Health With Herbs This Spring
With new plant life beginning to stir in the ground from their winter slumber, poking their heads up from the earth, so it is with our energy and inner vitality. As the earth’s energy is rising, naturally, so does our own. Or so it should. For some of us, emerging from our winter hibernation and…
Three Herbs to Support Digestion After a Long Winter
Human beings are part of the natural environment. We pass through the same natural and seasonal cycles that affect other living beings—animals, plants, and ecosystems. This is reflected in traditional healing systems the world over. Western herbalism has a long history of practices and remedies that are determined by the season, and older systems like…
How To Use Bitter Herbs With Children
Have you ever tried using bitter herbs with children? I have, and my first attempt didn’t go over so well. Two years into herb school, I offered a freshly-pressed tincture of hops to my then 11-year-old son who was restless and anxious in the evenings. At the time it made sense to me—something cooling and…
A Summer Bitters Recipe with Dandelion, Gentian, and Licorice Root
It goes without saying that most people prefer a sweet or salty flavor over a bitter one these days, but did you know that bitter foods are foundational parts of traditional diets due to their action on digestion? It’s true! Bitter plants were incorporated into the beginning of almost all meals as a way to…
Bitter Integrations! Part 2: Making Bitters
In my previous article, Bitter Integrations! we saw how humans adapted to some bitter plants to not only attain precious plant vitamins and minerals, but also improve our digestion and lower organ performance of processing, elimination, and detoxification. Part 2 will discuss making bitters, the health benefits of bitters, and specifically how bitter herbs assist…
Bitter Integrations! Part 1: History and Benefits of Bitters
Though bitter tastes are never our first choice on the menu, they are often the first choice in our survival. In the history of human evolution, we have created an on and off relationship with bitters that continues until today. In this article, the intriguing history and benefits of bitters is summarized, but I highly…
Urban Moonshine on Finding Joy
This last week Jovial King, founder and CEO of Urban Moonshine, came to visit the Herbal Academy of New England to teach us about bitters and tonics. Learning about her journey was a delight, to say the least! While she shared with us a wealth of information, from history to benefits of bitters, perhaps the…
